FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team continued to make strides on the second day of the FGCU Spring Invite. The ladies playing out of the B-Singles Draw combined for three total singles wins to highlight the day for the Green and Blue. Play will resume at 8 a.m. tomorrow with the finals of all singles draws.  

"The ladies had another good day on competition," head coach Courtney Vernon said. "These weekends are great for the opportunity to play a lot of matches. We have one more day to compete tomorrow and we will continue to focus on the areas that we need to improve on mentally."

In the A-Singles Draw, Sarah Means would lose her quarterfinal match by a score of 6-3, 6-3 but was resilient and battled Stephanie Cardullo in the consolation bracket to a 6-2, first set victory before running away with the match in the second set. She was able to break the Cardullo serve on multiple occasions to coast to a 6-1 victory in the second set. Means will play for a consolation title at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.

In the back draw of the A-Bracket, Breana Stampfli struggled in her first match, falling 6-4, 6-4 but much like Means was able to bounce back in her consolation match. Stampfli rolled in her second match of the day, picking up an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory.

In the B-Draw, Johanna Sterkel stayed hot, winning the first set of her quarterfinal match 6-2 before rolling in the second set, 6-1, to advance to the semi-final. Nelli Ponomareva from Miami (Ohio) took the first set, 7-6, but Sterkel battled back to take the second set 7-6 before falling in the third set showdown 6-2. Sterkel will play for third place in the B-Draw tomorrow morning.

In the back draw of the B-Bracket, Liz Means would pick up a pair of victories, first by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (7). In the semifinal of the back draw, Means took the first set 6-4 then took a 3-2 lead in the second before dropping four-straight points to lose the second set and move into a third set. Means would trail 4-0 in that set but battled back to win 10-6 and advance to the back draw final.

LAST TIME OUT
The duo of Elizabeth and Sarah Means (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Wiregrass Ranch HS) battled the nationally ranked Syracuse duo of Amanda Rogers and Rhiann Newborn to a 6-6 draw forcing the match into a tiebreak situation. The Eagle pair would prevail in the end, battling out a 9-7 result to take the match 7-6. The team of Alex Landert (Naples, Fla./Seton Hall) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) rolled past Nicole Mitchell and Olivia Messineo, 6-0, to clinch the doubles point for the Green and Blue.

In singles action, Amanda Rogers bested Sarah Means 6-1 in the first set but Means battled in the second, forcing a tiebreak but would fall ultimately, 7-5. In the No. 2 spot, Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/Saint Joseph's Convent) battled hard but went down 6-2, 6-4. Johanna Sterkel (Schwetzingen, Germany/Carl-Theodor-Schule HS) forced a tiebreak in her first set with Newborn but went down 7-3 in the volley, dropping the set 7-6 and would go down 6-4 in the second.

Curtis would pick up the second point of the afternoon for the Green and Blue with a 7-5 victory over Breanna Bachini in the first set before Bachini defaulted in the second. Elizabeth Means evened the score with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 win over Komal Safdar in the No. 4 slot.

Syracuse would earn the victory with its fourth and clinching point when Nicole Mitchell bested Landert 7-5, 6-2.  

FALL 2014
The Eagles competed at the Dick Vitale Invite to conclude the fall slate. The final day began with doubles play in the round of 32, where the pair of Stampfli and Curtissaw a hard-fought battle against Tennessee's Tiffany Tavares and Laurenceluc Guevremont. After staying on serve for a majority of the contest, a break on the Eagles near the end of the match gave the Volunteers the lead and ultimately the win at 8-6.

This was the first fall campaign for both Curtis and Stampfli, who joined the Green and Blue in January, 2014. After four tournaments, Curtis leads the team with a singles record of 6-5, Stampfli finished at 5-4.

At the FIU Panther Invitational Sarah Means bested Eastern Michigan's Klara Supejova. After Means won the opening frame, 6-3, Supejova went on to take the second set with the same score. The third set remained close, but a push from Means in the end gave her a win at the 6-4 mark to take the match and the A singles backdraw.

After a first-round loss in B singles, freshman Curtis followed in Means' footsteps and was crowned champion of the backdraw. To earn the title Curtis topped Eastern Michigan's Andrea Martinovska in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0.

COURTNEY VERNON
FGCU is led by Courtney Vernon, whose inaugural campaign saw the Eagles finish third in the conference standings with a Division-I best 14 wins overall in 2013-14. She has produced five A-Sun All-Conference selections and the 2014 Freshman of the Year.

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