TAMPA, Fla. – In its first road match of the 2016 season, the FGCU women's tennis team lost to in-state rival USF by a 7-0 decision on Friday afternoon in Tampa, Fla. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 0-2 on the season while the Bulls improve to 1-2.
 
"We ran into another good team today and certainly have some work to do," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "We'll continue to learn from both wins and loss as we move forward and are excited about getting back on the courts tomorrow afternoon."
 
The dual began with doubles action, where the Green and Blue dropped a pair of hard-fought matches against the Bulls top two teams. After the FGCU duo of Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) and Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) lost to USF's Nicole Dzenga and Vanja Klaric, 6-2, in No. 3 doubles, FGCU's top tandems of Elizabeth Means (Washington, D.C./Wiregrass Ranch HS) and Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) along with Joselyn Treyes Albarracin (Guayaquil, Ecuador/InterAmerican Academy) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) dropped a pair of 7-6 decisions to Jessica Cortes Chaves/Olga Martinez and Juliana Cardosa/Chloe Murphy to give the Bulls the doubles point. The Eagles No. 1 tandem of Means and Ascúa dropped the tiebreak 7-5 while the No. 2 duo of Treyes Albarracin and Curtis battled to a 10-8 defeat.
 
In singles play, the Eagles fell behind early as they dropped the first set on each court and failed to dig themselves out of the hole for the second-straight week. In No. 2 and No. 4 singles, Ascúa and Treyes Albarracin were the first to fall as they dropped their matches to Martinez and Cortes Chaves by respective scores of 6-3, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-1. In No. 3 singles and the dual's deciding point, Means suffered a hard-fought loss in the first set and couldn't rally as she ultimately lost to Cardosa by a 7-5, 6-1 margin. Additionally, Stampfli lost to Roman Dominguez (6-3, 6-3) in No. 1 singles, while Curtis dropped her match to Bessonova (6-1, 6-4) and Falceto Font fell to Dzenga (6-4, 6-4) in No. 5 and No. 6 singles action.
 
FRIDAY RESULTS
Doubles
No. 3 Doubles: Dzenga/Klaric (USF) def. Falceto Font/Stampfli (FGCU): 6-2
No. 1 Doubles: Cortes Chaves/Martinez (USF) def. Means/Ascúa (FGCU): 7-6 (7-5)
No. 2 Doubles: Cardosa/Murphy (USF) def. Curtis/Treyes Albarracin (FGCU): 7-6 (10-8)
 
Singles
No. 2 Singles: Martinez (USF) def. Ascúa (FGCU): 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 Singles: Cortez Chaves (USF) def. Treyes Albarracin (FGCU): 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Singles: Cardosa (USF) def. Means (FGCU): 7-5, 6-1
No. 1 Singles: Roman Dominguez (USF) def. Stampfli (FGCU): 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Singles: Bessonova (USF) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Singles: Dzenga (USF) def. Falceto Font (FGCU): 6-4, 6-4

UP NEXT
The Eagles travel across the state to Daytona Beach to compete in their second dual match in as many days as they visit Bethune-Cookman and look to extend their perfect 7-0 record against the Wildcats on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date coverage of FGCU women's tennis, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.
 
HEAD COACH COURTNEY VERNON
FGCU's women's tennis team is led by Courtney Vernon, whose second season under the helm saw the Eagles finish third in the conference standings with the program's first-ever appearance in the Atlantic Sun Championship Final. She has produced nine A-Sun All-Conference selections and the 2014 A-Sun Freshman of the Year. She has led the Green and Blue to a 24-22 overall record (.522) and 10-4 conference record (.714) in her two years at FGCU.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE 
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.