LAKE NONA, Fla. – Riding a three-match win streak and off to its best start in Division I program history, the FGCU women's tennis team (4-2) fell to UCF (8-1), 6-1, Friday afternoon at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.

FGCU, who defeated UCF for the first time in program history a season ago, was locked in a 1-1 tie with the Knights after dropping the doubles point and winning the first singles match of the afternoon. However, the Eagles were stymied from there and fell in the five remaining singles matches.

"We were challenged by UCF today," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "They were able to execute the deuce points with more courage. We will grow a lot from today and are looking forward to getting back to work next week."

After splitting the doubles decisions on courts two and three, the Eagles' top tandem of Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) battled back from a 5-3 deficit to force a tiebreak. However, UCF's Monica Matias and Courtney Cesarini, who had only dropped one match leading into the day, prevailed and claimed the point for the Knights in a tiebreak, 7-3.

UCF took the first doubles match of the afternoon on court two as Emilia Granstrom and Natalie Serrano remained undefeated on the season by defeating Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) and Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping), 6-3. However, the Green and Blue tandem of Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) and Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) evened things up with a 6-4 win against Elizabeth Bagerbaseh and Nicole Jimenez on court three.

Kicking off singles play in a 1-0 deficit, Kelly made quick work of her UCF counterpart and won her third straight singles match as she defeated Jimenez 6-1, 6-2 in the #6 position to even the score.

From there, the Green and Blue dropped the five remaining matches to the homestanding Knights. Curtis returned to the #4 position and fell to Cesarini in straight sets. After dropping the first set, 6-3, the Tampa native battled to a tiebreak in the second frame but ultimately lost by a 7-2 margin. UCF then moved within a point of claiming the match as Matias defeated Stampfli in #2 singles. The senior leader of the Green and Blue lost the first set in a tiebreak, before falling 6-3 in the second set. Ascúa then battled Granstrom to a tiebreak in both sets, but ultimately came up short as the Black and Gold clinched the match.

In the final two matches of the afternoon, Serrano came from behind to defeat Ornberg in a three-set match, before Falceto Font hung tough with Bagerbaseh but ultimately fell 7-5, 7-5.

RESULTS VS. UCF
Doubles
#1: Matias/Cesarini (UCF) def. Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU): 7-6 (7-3)
#2: Granstrom/Serrano (UCF) def. Ornberg/Stampfli (FGCU): 6-3
#3: Falceto Font/Kelly (FGCU) def. Bagerbaseh/Jimenez (UCF): 6-4
 
Singles
#1: Serrano (UCF) def. Ornberg (FGCU): 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
#2: Matias (UCF) def. Stampfli (FGCU): 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
#3: Granstrom (UCF) def. Ascúa (FGCU): 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4)
#4: Cesarini (UCF) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
#5: Bagerbaseh (UCF) def. Falceto Font (FGCU): 7-5, 7-5
#6: Kelly (FGCU) def. Jimenez (UCF): 6-1, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1); Singles (6, 4, 2, 3, 1, 5)

UP NEXT
The Eagles hit the road for one last time before hosting five straight home matches in March. FGCU travels to Miami to take on FIU Friday, Feb. 24 at 1 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 reining ASUN Co-Coach of the Year 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 mentored her student-athletes into earning a total of 29 ASUN All-Conference honors, 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 40-31 overall record (.563) 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.