The South Florida women’s tennis team finished up the fall season this weekend at Fort Worth, Texas, in the 2001 Conference USA Individual Women’s Tennis Tournament.

One of the highlights of the tournament was Natalie Schwartz, who was seeded No. 7, defeating Jen Capuzzi of Cincinnati 8-6 in the finals of the North Draw of A Flight.

Also in A Flight, Jennifer Sinclair lost to Karla Mancinas of TCU 5-7, 6-0, 11-9 in the finals of the West Draw.

Mancinas defeated USF’s Genevieve Houle in the semifinals 3-6, 7-5, 10-5. Houle played this weekend after suffering from a strained elbow.

“The elbow is pretty good, I went through the weekend,” Houle said. “I can’t wait to go next semester and play the spring because I didn’t play much in the fall.”

Patricia Kolendo, who redshirted last year for the Bulls, lost in the quarterfinals of the B Draw to No. 2 seeded Maiko Cook of Tulane 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

In doubles, the Bulls’ team of Jamie Larson and Claudia Nieto lost to Leen Corneilie and Leoni Weirich of TCU 8-3 in the semifinals.

The Bulls played four tournaments this season with improvement and the spring season weighing on their minds. They worked hard and got in shape for the spring using the fall as a learning time.

“As a team I think everybody improved it was a learning time in the fall,” Houle said. “We worked hard. I think we’re in better shape.”

Sailing team competes at Atlantic Coast Championships

The University of South Florida sailing team, ranked in the top 20 in the nation by Sailing World Magazine, competed in two regattas this past weekend.

The women’s team sailed at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the coed team sailed at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Both teams competed in the Atlantic Coast Championships.

To be able to compete in this tournament, USF finished second in the South.

“This is the first time we ever sailed in it,” coach Stephanie Doyle said. “For never sailing in it before, I’m real happy we were able to get out there and learn.”

According to Doyle, this weekend’s regatta lacked USF highlights and they did not have one of their better regattas of a season in which they won at Notre Dame Sept. 8-9 and placed in the top two at several regattas.

The Atlantic Coast Championships consists of two people per boats, called F-J’s – the same type boats that are used throughout the season.

Genoa Griffin will compete in a single boat competition this weekend when she races in the North American’s at Old Dominion in Virginia.

Griffin is the first Bull to ever compete in the event. Only two sailors from the South qualify for the regatta.The team has a few more regattas before finishing its season Dec.1.

“The team is pretty young,” Doyle said. “We’ve had some fabulous finishes this year.”

• Bryan Fazio