DELAND, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team (9-4, 1-0 ASUN) didn't let a more than 90-minute rain delay affect its play as the Eagles stuck to the game plan and opened the ASUN season with a 6-1 win against Stetson (3-11, 0-1 ASUN) Thursday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
Due to the rain, the typical format beginning with doubles play was altered, and the two teams agreed to start the match with singles action. Nevertheless, the Green and Blue adjusted with the climate and cruised to a 6-1 victory against the homestanding Hatters. The win marked FGCU's fifth in its last six matches versus Stetson. It was also the team's first true road win of the season.
"The ladies are looking strong," said FGCU head coach
Courtney Vernon. "Stetson is a solid team, but the ladies stuck to the plan and were successful today. They are learning and trusting themselves to play aggressively in pressure moments, and it's paying off. We look forward to getting back to work to prepare for USC Upstate next week."
FGCU started the match with a flurry as all six Eagles won their opening set by two or more points. From there, FGCU cruised to straight-set wins in five of six matches and quickly put away Stetson in the ASUN opener, marking the sixth straight season FGCU won its first match of conference play.
Competing in the #2 position,
Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) got the Green and Blue on the scoreboard as she defeated Maja Salibasic by a 6-1 margin in back-to-back sets. Shortly after,
Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) claimed her fourth straight match by defeating Danielle Peele 6-2, 6-1 in #6 singles.
After
Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) got the Eagles to within a point of the match by taking down her Hatters counterpart, Arijana Korac, on court one,
Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) claimed her second match in the last two weeks by defeating Isabella Fernandez 6-3, 6-4 in #3 singles.
With the match already decided,
Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) improved to a team-best 8-3 in dual matches by claiming a 6-4, 6-3 win against Stetson's Lucie Renault in #4 singles. However, the Hatters were able to claim the final singles match of the afternoon as Sofia Ferding responded from a first-set loss against
Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) to win a hard-fought second set, 7-5, before winning the superset tiebreak, 10-5.
After the two teams also agreed to play out the match in doubles action, FGCU again got the best of Stetson by taking two of three matches from the Hatters.
Stetson's #3 duo of Fernandez and Peele continued the Hatters' momentum from the final singles match by handing FGCU's freshman duo of Kelly and
Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) its first loss of the dual season.
However, the Eagles' top tandem of Ascúa and Curtis evened things up with a 6-3 win against Korac and Salibasic on court one. Ascúa and Curtis not only improved to 8-4 this season, but have also won 17 of their last 21 doubles matches dating back to last season and are 23-6 as a duo at FGCU.
Capping off the afternoon, Ornberg and Stampfli found themselves in a 6-5 deficit in the decisive third match against Ferding and Renault on court two. With their backs against the wall, though, the FGCU duo battled back to even the match at 6-6 and ultimately take a hard-fought tiebreak, 8-6.
RESULTS VS. STETSON
Doubles
#1: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Korac/Salibasic (STET): 6-3
#2: Ornberg/Stampfli (FGCU) def. Ferding/Renault (STET): 7-6 (6)
#3: Fernandez/Peele (STET) def. Forster/Kelly (FGCU): 6-1
Singles
#1: Ornberg (FGCU) def. Korac (STET): 6-2, 6-4
#2: Stampfli (FGCU) def. Salibasic (STET): 6-1, 6-1
#3: Ascúa (FGCU) def. Fernandez (STET): 6-3, 6-4
#4: Falceto Font (FGCU) def. Renault (STET): 6-4, 6-3
#5: Ferding (STET) def. Curtis (FGCU): 4-6, 7-5, 10-5
#6: Kelly (FGCU) def. Peele (STET): 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (2, 6, 1, 3, 4, 5)
UP NEXT
FGCU continues ASUN play with a pair of road matches next week. First, the Eagles travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on USC Upstate (2-14, 0-1 ASUN) Thursday, Mar. 30 at 2 p.m. before heading further north to take on NJIT (4-7, 1-0 ASUN) Saturday, Apr. 1 at 10 a.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 ASUN Freshman of the Year and 2016 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 45-33 overall record (.577) and 16-5 conference record (.762) 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.
