JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a grueling regular season schedule that saw eight-nationally ranked opponents, the third-seeded FGCU women's tennis team enters the 2015 Atlantic Sun Championship ready to continue its campaign with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 Kennesaw State on Friday, Apr. 17, at 9 a.m. at the North Florida Tennis Complex.

The Eagles enter the A-Sun Championship with an 8-11 record and a 4-2 mark in conference play. The Owls come into the weekend with a 3-13 record and a 1-5 mark in the conference. The winner of Friday's matchup will face the second-seeded Hatters of Stetson (15-4, 5-1 A-Sun), who have a first round bye, on Saturday, Apr. 18 at 9 a.m.

The championship match is set to begin on Sunday, Apr. 19 at 10 a.m. However, impending inclement weather in the area could force matches to be moved to Monday, Apr. 20.

"We are looking forward to the weekend," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "We will continue to focus on the things we can control and enjoy the privilege of competing again."

FGCU is led by Johanna Sterkel (Schwetzingen, Germany/Carl-Theodor-Schule HS) in singles play. The junior holds a dual-match season record of 15-3 and an 11-2 mark in the No. 3 slot, and was recently selected to the All-Conference First Team and All-Academic Team. Over the course of the season Sterkel has beaten opponents from Miami, USF, Georgia State and UCF. Coming into conference action, Sterkel showed no signs of slowing down, posting a perfect 6-0 record, dropping only one set. Sterkel is riding an eight-match win streak entering the A-Sun Championship.

The Green and Blue's first A-Sun match of the year was at Kennesaw State, and they came away with a 6-1 win at the Fair Oaks Tennis Center. The duo of Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) and Candela Munoz Giron (Alicante, Spain/Troy) defeated the Owls' pair of Ashleigh De Wet and Abbie Grant by an 8-2 count in the No. 2 doubles slot, while Sterkel and Alex Landert (Naples, Fla./Seton Hall) picked up the second match win against Cristina Martin and Alexandra Mercado in doubles play to give the Eagles the first point by an 8-0 score in the No. 3 doubles slot. Sterkel, Stampfli, Munoz Giron, Elizabeth Means and Landert all won their singles matches to give the Eagles the victory.

Kennesaw State is led by Virginie Stein who was named to the 2015 All-Conference First Team. The senior went 8-7 on the year and holds a 3-2 record in A-Sun singles play, while holding an 8-6 record in doubles play during the spring season.

In their final regular season match against Stetson, the Eagles fell by a 4-2 count in DeLand, Fla. The sister duo of Elizabeth and Sarah Means (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Wiregrass Ranch HS) defeated Isabella Fernandez and Eveline Lepinay by an 8-6 count in the No. 1 doubles slot. Sterkel and Landert picked up the second match win in doubles play against Arijana Korac and Maja Salibasic to give the Eagles the first point by an 8-4 score in the No. 3 doubles slot. The only other point on the day for the Eagles came from Sterkel in the No. 3 singles slot. The junior made quick work of Arijana Korac with a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

Stetson is led by the A-Sun Player and Freshman of the Year in Alizee Michaud, who is a perfect 15-0 during the dual-match season and 6-0 in A-Sun singles play. Pierre Pilote, the Hatters head coach, was also named the Coach of the Year.

Joining Sterkel on the All-Conference first was Sarah Means who also named to the All-Conference Second Team for doubles and the All-Academic team. Sarah was joined by her sister Elizabeth Means on the All-Conference Second Team for doubles, and on the All-Academic team. Rounding out the accolades for the Eagles was Munoz Giron who was named to the All-Conference Second Team.

North Florida enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed after going a perfect 6-0 in the A-Sun with an overall mark of 15-3. No. 4 Lipscomb (12-9, 3-3 A-Sun) and No. 5 Northern Kentucky (6-15, 1-5 A-Sun) square off in the other quarterfinal on Friday, Apr. 16 at 11:30 a.m. The winner of that matchup Friday will face No. 1 UNF on Saturday, Apr. 17 at 11:30 a.m.

THE SCHEDULE

Friday, Apr. 17
No. 3 FGCU vs No. 6 Kennesaw State, 9 a.m.
No. 4 Lipscomb vs. No. 5 Northern Kentucky, 11:30 a.m.

Saturday, Apr. 18 
No. 3 FGCU/No. 6 Kennesaw State vs. No. 2 Stetson, 9 a.m.
No. 4 Lipscomb/No. 5 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 1 North Florida, 11:30 a.m.

Sunday, Apr. 19
Semifinal Winners, 10 a.m.

For complete coverage of FGCU women's tennis follow us on Twitter at @FGCU_WTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.

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.

FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.