TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  The FGCU women's tennis team traveled to Tallahassee to take on FSU for just the second time in program history and suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Seminoles Friday afternoon at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center.

FGCU fell to 1-1 with the loss after defeating USF for the first time in program history to begin the spring season last week. The Seminoles, on the other hand, moved to 4-1 on the season after also defeating fellow ASUN member UNF, 4-0, Friday morning.

"Today was a tough match against a talented team, but it was also a good test for us this early in the season," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "Our girls can learn from this. We'll refocus and get ready to play Southern Miss tomorrow."

With FGCU's top duo of Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) battling FSU's Andrea Garcia and Julia Mikulski tough on court one, the Seminoles claimed a pair of wins against the Eagles on courts two and three to take the doubles point.

Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) and Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) were swept by Daniela Schippers and Gabriella Castaneda on court three, while Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) and Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago) were defeated by Ariana Rahmanparast and Nandini Das, 6-1, on court two.

It was an uphill climb for FGCU from there, and the Green and Blue were unable to get anything going in singles action as FSU won in straight sets on courts two through four to seal the match. Schippers defeated Curtis, 6-1, in back-to-back sets in #4 singles, before Nandini put the Seminoles within a point of winning the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Ascúa in #3 singles. Minutes later, Mikulski closed out the dual with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Stampfli in the #2 position. It was each member of the FGCU trio's first loss of the season.

The Green and Blue hung tough in its three unfinished matches, particularly on court one as Ornberg held a 5-3 advantage in the opening set before surrendering the lead to Castaneda. Additionally, the Sweden native and Falceto Font trailed their Seminole counterparts but just a point in their respective second sets before the match was claimed.

RESULTS VS. FSU
Doubles
#1: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) vs. Garcia/Mikulski (FSU): 3-5, unfinished
#2: Rahmanparast/Das (FSU) def. Ornberg/Stampfli (FGCU): 6-1
#3: Castaneda/Schippers (FSU) def. Falceto Font/Kelly (FGCU): 6-0

Singles
#1: Ornberg (FGCU) vs. Castaneda (FSU): 5-7, 2-3, unfinished
#2: Mikulski (FSU) def. Stampfli (FGCU): 6-3, 6-3
#3: Nandini (FSU) def. Ascúa (FGCU); 6-1, 6-3
#4: Schippers (FSU) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-1, 6-1
#5: Kelly (FGCU) vs. Rahmanparast (FSU): 3-6, 2-5, unfinished
#6: Falceto Font (FGCU) vs. Garcia (FSU): 3-6, 4-5, unfinished

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

UP NEXT
FGCU heads south to take on Southern Miss in a neutral-site match hosted by USF in Tampa, Fla., Saturday at noon. Tomorrow's match signals the first between the Green and Blue and Golden Eagles in program history, although Southern Miss also traveled to Fort Myers a year ago for the FGCU Spring Invite.

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 37-30 overall record (.552) 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.