SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After falling in a 3-0 hole to start the match, the FGCU women's tennis team (12-9, 5-1 A-Sun) made a strong push to draw within one of top-seeded UNF (13-6, 6-0 A-Sun) but ultimately came up short, falling to the Ospreys, 4-2, in the A-Sun Championship Sunday afternoon at the USC Upstate Tennis Complex.
 
It marked the second straight year the two teams met in the A-Sun Championship Final with UNF emerging victorious on both occasions. Nonetheless, it was a historic season for the Green and Blue as they finished in a program-best second place in the regular season conference standings and once again challenged the Ospreys for the A-Sun Title.
 
"The girls gave it all they had today but couldn't quite dig themselves out of any early deficit," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "I was proud of the way they responded, though, and I'm proud of how much they grew and improved this season. We'll miss Elizabeth (Means) and Alex (Landert), but I have no doubt the girls that return will learn from this and be even more focused next season."
 
The Eagles trailed the Ospreys by three after dropping the doubles point and falling in No. 3 and No. 6 singles but began a strong comeback effort with a pair of three-set wins from their First Team All-Conference performers in the top two positions.
 
Freshman Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) responded from a 6-3 loss in the first set to win the next two sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-0, respectively, and put the Eagles on the board. A little while later, Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) cut the FGCU deficit to one as she defeated A-Sun Player of the Year Noemi Hemmerich. The FGCU junior won a first-set tiebreak before falling, 6-4, in the second set and winning the match by blanking Hemmerich in the decisive third set and handing the UNF junior her second conference loss of the season.
 
However, it was too little too late as the Ospreys held a one-set lead in both remaining matches and ultimately claimed the championship as A-Sun First-Teamer Luise Intert defeated Second Team All-Conference selection Elizabeth Means (Washington, D.C./Wiregrass Ranch HS) in the No. 4 position.
 
To start the championship match, the Eagles were within a game of jumping out to a 1-0 lead much like their regular-season matchup with the Ospreys, but UNF's No. 2 duo of Intert and Rafaela Gomez came back from a 5-4 deficit against Stampfli and Alexandra Landert (Zurich, Switzerland/Seton Hall) to take the point from FGCU.
 
The two teams split the decisions on courts one and three as Ascúa and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) won their 15th doubles match of the season and remained perfect against conference opponents by defeating fellow A-Sun Second Team performers Hemmerich and Quetzali Vazquez after Means and Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) lost to Mariella Calderon and Michelle Valdez in the No. 3 position.
 
FGCU's Ascúa continued to add to her postseason accolades as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Along with her come-from-behind win Sunday, the Argentine native clinched Saturday's 4-1 win against Stetson.
 
SUNDAY RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 Doubles: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Hemmerich/Vazquez (UNF): 6-3
No. 2 Doubles: Intert/Gomez (UNF) def. Stampfli/Landert (FGCU): 7-5
No. 3 Doubles: Calderon/Valdez (UNF) def. Falceto Font/Means (FGCU): 6-1
 
Singles
No. 1 Singles: Stampfli (FGCU) def. Hemmerich (UNF): 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0
No. 2 Singles: Ascúa (FGCU) def. Valdez (UNF): 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Singles: Gomez (UNF) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Singles: Intert (UNF) def. Means (FGCU): 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 Singles: Falceto Font (FGCU) vs. Vazquez (UNF): 2-6, 6-6 (DNF)
No. 6 Singles: Calderon (UNF) def. Landert (FGCU): 7-5, 6-3
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (3, 6, 2, 1, 4)
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Laura Kent, Lipscomb
Eveline Lepinay, Stetson
Julia Ascúa, FGCU
Rafaela Gomez, UNF
Michelle Valdez, UNF
Luise Intert, UNF – Tournament MVP
 
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 third season under the helm saw the Eagles finish in a program-best second place in the regular season conference standings and advance to their second consecutive Atlantic Sun Championship Final. She has produced seventeen A-Sun All-Conference selections, including the 2014 and 2016 A-Sun Freshman of the Year and 2016 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 36-29 overall record (.554) and 15-5 conference record (.750) in her three 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.