FORT MYERS, Fla. – After automatically advancing to the semifinals by virtue of winning its first ASUN Regular Season Championship, top-seeded FGCU (15-4, 6-0 ASUN) advanced its third straight ASUN Championship Final with a 4-1 win against No. 4 Stetson (7-14, 3-3 ASUN) Saturday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

FGCU's semifinal win against Stetson marks the third straight season the Eagles have defeated the Hatters, 4-1, en route to advancing to the championship match. Additionally, with No. 2 UNF also defeating No. 3 NJIT, 4-0, Saturday afternoon, the Eagles and Ospreys will play for the ASUN Championship with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line for the third straight season.

"The girls came out focused and got the job done today," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "We're very thankful to be in our third conference championship. The big thing for us tomorrow is to come out with a lot of energy and hopefully have a lot of fans out here to support us. The crowd was great today, and the girls love playing in front of them. UNF is a solid team and is going to fight hard, but the girls are pumped and ready for tomorrow. They're hungry and want to write a different story."

FGCU came out firing from the get-go as the Green and Blue cruised to a pair of quick wins to claim the doubles point against the Hatters. The Eagles' freshmen duo of Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) blanked Danielle Peele and Alex Viaud in #3 doubles, before Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) defeated Stetson's Arijana Korac and Maja Salibasic, 6-1, one court one.

Despite having to alter its lineup due to an illness that has been going through the team this week, the FGCU maintained its momentum in singles action as Forster made quick work of her Stetson counterpart with a straight-set victory against Viaud on court six. The ASUN All-Freshman Team honoree claimed the first set, 6-2, before shutting out Viaud, 6-0, in the second set and giving FGCU a 2-0 lead.

After Stetson cut the Eagles' lead to 2-1 with a straight-set win from Sofia Ferding on court four, Curtis responded and got FGCU to within a point of claiming the match with a straight-set win in #5 singles. The Tampa native blanked Peele, 6-0, in the opening frame, before also taking down the Stetson freshman, 7-5, in a hard-fought second set.

Ascúa then validated her second First Team All-Conference selection in as many seasons as she clinched the match with a three-set win on court two. The FGCU sophomore defeated Salibasic, 6-1, in the opening frame. However, the Hatters senior wouldn't go quietly as she forced a third and final frame with a 6-3 win in the second set. From there, though, Ascúa was able to outlast her Stetson counterpart with a 6-3 win in the third and final frame. The Argentina native aced Salibasic with a powerful serve down the center line to put the finishing touches on the match.

RESULTS VS. NO. 4 STETSON
Doubles
#1: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Korac/Salibasic (STET): 6-1
#2: Stampfli/Ornberg (FGCU) vs. Ferding/Renault (STET): 1-5, unfinished
#3: Kelly/Forster (FGCU) def. Peele/Viaud (STET): 6-0

Singles
#1: Stampfli (FGCU) vs. Korac (STET): 4-6, 5-6, unfinished
#2: Ascúa (FGCU) def. Salibasic (STET): 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
#3: Falceto Font (FGCU) vs. Renault (STET): 4-6, 4-3 unfinished
#4: Ferding (STET) def. Kelly (FGCU): 6-2, 6-2
#5: Curtis (FGCU) def. Peele (STET): 6-0, 7-5
#6: Forster (FGCU) def. Viaud (STET): 6-2, 6-0
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (6, 4, 5, 2)

UP NEXT
FGCU and No. 2 UNF will square off in the ASUN Championship Match for the third straight season Sunday at 10 a.m. The Eagles and Ospreys met in the regular season finale last Saturday, and FGCU claimed its first conference championships with a 4-3 win against the visiting Ospreys. The Eagles' win snapped a span of three straight regular season championships for UNF and a 30-match conference win streak.

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 51-33 overall record (.607) and 21-5 conference record (.808) in her three-plus 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.