FORT MYERS, Fla. – On a night when senior captains Elizabeth Means and Alexandra Landert were honored for their contributions to the FGCU women's tennis program, the Eagles (11-8, 5-1 A-Sun) handed Stetson (8-10, 4-1 A-Sun) its first conference loss of the season as they defeated the Hatters, 6-1, Saturday evening at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
 
The Green and Blue claimed the doubles point for the fifth straight match and went on to win the first three single matches to clinch the win against Stetson, who entered the match undefeated in conference play, in impressive fashion.
 
FGCU's 83.3 win percentage in conference play ranks as the highest in program history while its five league wins is only one shy of the program record, previously recorded on three occasions before the conference shrunk to seven teams in 2014-15.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of this team," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "Liz and Alex capped off their regular season the way we wanted them to, and I was happy to see that. We'll start preparing for the conference tournament next week, and the girls can't wait to compete."
 
In doubles play, Means (Washington, D.C./Wiregrass Ranch HS) and fellow senior Landert (Zurich, Switzerland/Seton Hall) finished their final match at the FGCU Tennis Complex in style and claimed a 6-2 win against Ashley Dean and Alexandra Lyubimova in No. 3 doubles. It was the duo's second straight doubles win.
 
Minutes later, Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) and Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) won yet another match and clinched the point in the No. 2 position as they defeated Eveline Lepinay and Maja Salibasic, 6-4. Curtis and Ascúa have now won seven straight matches and improved to 12-1 in the No. 2 position and 13-2 overall.
 
After Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) won her 10th straight match and Joselyn Treyes Albarracin (Guayaquil, Ecuador/InterAmerican Academy) responded from a from first-set loss to win the next two in dominant fashion, Means capped off a career during which she has won 45 singles matches and 38 doubles points by clinching the match with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win against Stetson's Carolina Meregalli in No. 5 singles.
 
The Hatters got on the board as Lepinay, the conference's overall wins leader, defeated Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) in the No. 1 position. However, the Green and Blue ended the night with a pair of wins from Curtis and Ascúa in No. 4 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
 
With a Stetson win in next weekend's match against UNF, FGCU would clinch a three-way share of the A-Sun Regular Season Championship. With a loss, the Green and Blue would enter the conference championships as the No. 2 seed.
 
SATURDAY RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 Doubles: Stampfli/Treyes Albarracin (FGCU) vs. Fernandez/Korac (STET): 5-5, DNF
No. 2 Doubles: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Lepinay/Slaibasic (STET): 6-4
No. 3 Doubles: Landert/Means (FGCU) def. Dean/Lyubimova (STET): 6-2
 
Singles
No. 1 Singles: Lepinay (STET) def. Stampfli (FGCU): 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 Singles: Treyes Albarracin (FGCU) def. Korac (STET): 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 Singles: Ascua (FGCU) def. Fernandez (STET): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 Singles: Curtis (FGCU) def. Salibasic (STET): 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 Singles: Means (FGCU) def. Meregalli (STET): 7-6 (3), 6-2
No. 6 Singles: Falceto Font (FGCU) def. Dean (STET): 6-1, 6-3
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (6, 2, 5, 1, 4, 3)
 
UP NEXT
FGCU will await its seeding for the 2016 A-Sun Championships, which will be hosted by USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. from April 22-24. The Eagles will look to improve upon a runner-up finish in 2015 and advance to their first NCAA Tournament in program history.
 
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 35-28 overall record (.556) 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.