JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team (10-8, 4-1 A-Sun) battled until the end, but ultimately dropped a 4-3 decision to defending conference champion UNF (10-5, 5-0 A-Sun) Thursday afternoon at the UNF Tennis Courts.
 
After FGCU claimed the doubles point in dramatic fashion, the Ospreys responded to win the first three matches in singles play and jump out to a 3-1 lead. Later, trailing 3-2, Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) forced a decisive third set in the No. 4 position but ran out of steam as she ultimately lost to UNF's Luise Intert (6-3, 2-6, 6-2) in what turned out to be the deciding match.  
 
Despite the loss, FGCU still has an opportunity to share the A-Sun Title with a win against Stetson Saturday afternoon. However, both UNF and the Hatters control their own destiny and would claim the championship outright with one and two more wins, respectively.
 
"The girls fought hard today but came up just short against a tough opponent," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "We continue to improve, though, and are looking forward to honoring our seniors and playing in front of our home crowd against Stetson Saturday."
 
In doubles play, FGCU got off to a sluggish start as Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) and Joselyn Treyes Albarracin (Guayaquil, Ecuador/InterAmerican Academy) suffered a 6-0 loss to UNF's top tandem of Noemi Hemmerich and Quetzali Vazquez.
 
However, the Green and Blue was able to respond in a big way with a pair of hard-fought wins in No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to claim the cumulative point. Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Curtis continued to impress in the No. 2 position as the duo pushed its match win streak to nine with a 7-5 win against Luise Intert and Rafaela Gomez. Shortly after, Elizabeth Means (Washington, D.C./Wiregrass Ranch HS) and Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) clinched the point with a 7-6 tiebreak win in the No. 3 position against Michelle Valdez and Mariella Calderon.
 
UNF seized the momentum from the Eagles at the start of singles play with a trio of straight-set wins. Vazquez defeated Means (6-0, 6-0) in No. 5 singles, while Gomez downed Ascúa (6-1, 6-4) in the No. 3 position and Valdez won against Treyes Albarracin (6-1, 6-3) in the No. 2 spot. Ascúa's loss snapped a seven-match win streak while Means and Treyes Alabarracin each lost five-match streaks.
 
Falceto Font then brought FGCU back to within one as she improved to 10-1 in No. 6 singles and claimed her ninth consecutive match with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Calderon before Curtis dropped the aforementioned deciding match.
 
Moments later, Stampfli registered a hard-fought, three-set win against Hemmerich in the top position, but it was too little, too late for the Green and Blue.
 
THURSDAY RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 Doubles: Hemmerich/Vazquez (UNF) def. Stampfli/Treyes Albarracin (FGCU): 6-0
No. 2 Doubles: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Intert/Gomez (UNF): 7-5
No. 3 Doubles: Falceto Font/Means (FGCU) def. Valdez/Calderon (UNF): 7-6
 
Singles
No. 1 Singles: Stampfli (FGCU) def. Hemmerich (UNF): 7-6, 5-7, 6-2
No. 2 Singles: Valdez (UNF) def. Treyes Albarracin (FGCU): 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Singles: Gomez (UNF) def. Ascua (FGCU): 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 Singles: Intert (UNF) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
No. 5 Singles: Vazquez (UNF) def. Means (FGCU): 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Singles: Falceto Font (FGCU) def. Calderon (UNF): 6-2, 6-2
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (5, 3, 2, 6, 4, 1)
 
UP NEXT
Stetson invades the FGCU Tennis Complex Saturday at 5 p.m. for a rematch of last year's A-Sun Championships Semifinal, which FGCU won 4-1 to advance to its first-ever championship final. Stetson owns an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series, but FGCU has won two of the last three meetings.
 
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 34-28 overall record (.548) and 14-5 conference record (.736) 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.