FORT MYERS, Fla. – Coming off a nearly two-week break from competition, the FGCU women's tennis team (5-3) returned to the FGCU Tennis Complex and got back on track as the Eagles defeated Xavier (4-7), 6-1, Wednesday afternoon.
With the win, the Green and Blue improved to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in matches contested at the FGCU Tennis Complex this season. Dating back to Mar. 16, 2016, FGCU has won seven straight home matches.
The Eagles jumped out to an early lead against the Musketeers with a win in all three doubles matches and used the early momentum to take five of six singles matches. Four of the six went into a decisive third set, but FGCU showed grit and determination to survive three of those four matches.
"The girls competed well today," said FGCU head coach
Courtney Vernon. "They are learning to trust themselves and our plan as a team. We look forward to getting back out there Friday and competing against Troy."
After losing three straight following a 12-match win streak dating back to last season, FGCU's top tandem of
Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and
Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) got back to their winning ways with a 6-3 win against Xavier's Christina Di Lorenzo and Lauren Ghidotti.
Moments later, the Eagles claimed the doubles point as
Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) returned to join
Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) in the #2 position and the duo defeated Sophia Abelson and Sydney Liggins, 6-4.
With the point already decided, the freshman combination of
Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and
Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) competed together for the first time this spring and earned a hard-fought 7-6 victory against Zoe Manion and Rachael Reichenbach.
In singles action,
Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) and Ornberg quickly got the Eagles within a point of claiming the match with wins in the #4 and #1 positions, respectively. The Musketeers Reichenbach battled Falceto Font tough in the first set, but the FGCU sophomore prevailed, 7-5, and went on to easily take the second frame, 6-1. Ornberg cruised to a 6-1 win in the opening frame before falling by the same margin in the second set. However, the Sweden native responded nicely with a 6-3 win in the decisive third set.
The clincher came in #3 singles as Ascúa defeated Ghidotti, 6-4, in the first set on court two before taking the second set by scoring eight points to Ghidotti's six in the tiebreak. It marked the first time this season Ascúa put the finishing touches of the match.
After Curtis fell to Abelson in #5 singles, FGCU won the two remaining matches with a pair of three-set victories. Kelly and Stampfli each improved to 4-3 in singles play as the first defeated Vanina Iordanova in #6 singles and the latter capped things off by taking down Di Lorenzo in the #2 position.
RESULTS VS. XAVIER
Doubles
#1: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Di Lorenzo/Ghidotti (XU): 6-3
#2: Ornberg/Stampfli (FGCU) def. Abelson/Liggins (XU): 6-4
#3: Forster/Kelly (FGCU) def. Manion/Reichenbach (XU): 7-6
Singles
#1: Ornberg (FGCU) def. Liggins (XU): 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
#2: Stampfli (FGCU) def. Di Lorenzo (XU): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
#3: Ascúa (FGCU) def. Ghidotti (XU): 6-4, 7-6 (6)
#4: Falceto Font (FGCU) def. Reichenbach (XU): 7-5, 6-1
#5: Abelson (XU) def. Curtis (FGCU): 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
#6: Kelly (FGCU) def. Iordanova (XU): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2)
UP NEXT
FGCU continues its five-match homestand and faces a quick turnaround against Troy Friday at 11 a.m. The Trojans enter this weekend with a 3-8 record and will take on Xavier in a neutral-site match at the FGCU Tennis Complex Thursday at 11 a.m. Troy dropped its first six dual matches of the spring, but has responded to win three of its last five with wins against Bethune-Cookman, UAB and USC Upstate.
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 41-32 overall record (.562) 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.
