FORT MYERS, Fla. – Hours after earning a spot in the ASUN Women's Tennis Championships, FGCU (12-4, 4-0 ASUN) continued to play its best tennis of the season as the Eagles defeated Kennesaw State (5-12, 1-4 ASUN), 7-0, at the FGCU Tennis Complex Thursday night.

With the win, the Eagles extended their season-long win streak to five matches and have won eight of their last nine. FGCU's shutout win marks its fourth of the season as the Green and Blue remain tied with conference rival UNF atop the ASUN standings with next weekend's season finale against the Ospreys looming. Additionally, the Eagles' 12 wins this spring matches the team's season total from a year ago. 

FGCU improved to 9-2 all-time against Kennesaw State following Thursday's decision. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead in doubles play and never looked back as the team claimed all six singles matches with five being decided in straight sets.

"The ladies did a good job tonight," said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. "We are being challenged in different way every time we compete, and they are handling that well. It's exciting to be able to guarantee ourselves a spot in the conference championships, and we are looking forward to playing again on Saturday against Lipscomb."

In doubles action, Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Julianna Curtis (Tampa, Fla./Allendale Academy) got the Green and Blue off to a fast start as the team's top tandem blanked Christina Perez-Martin and Laura Hopton, 6-0, on court one.

From there, Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) and Breana Stampfli (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Joseph's Convent) claimed the cumulative doubles point with a 6-2 win against the Owls' Elle Baker and Alexandra Mercado in the #2 position.

The Eagles' freshmen combination of Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) were just a point away from also claiming their match against Jessica Cantrell and Jada Tijani as Stampfli and Ornberg clinched the point.

As singles play began, FGCU didn't let its foot off the pedal. Kelly and Forster won their sixth and fourth straight matches, respectively, and remained perfect in conference play with a pair of wins in #5 and #6 singles. Facing Cantrell, Kelly surrendered only one point in the opening set before cruising to a 6-0 win in the second frame. Forster's match was played vice versa as the Boca Raton native blanked Aspen Jarrett in the first set before taking down her Owl counterpart, 6-1, in the second frame.

Leading 3-0 less than two hours into the match, Ornberg was able to put the finishing touches on Kennesaw State as the FGCU freshman defeated Mercado 6-0, 6-3 in #1 singles. The win was Ornberg's 10th of the season and fifth straight as she has played all 16 matches in the top spot.

With the match already decided, Ascúa earned a 6-3, 6-4 win against Hopton in the #3 position, while Laura Falceto Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) won her team-best 11th dual match of the season with a hard-fought win against Kennedy Craig in #4 singles. Falceto Font and Craig battled to a tiebreak in the first set, but the FGCU sophomore ultimately emerged victorious, 7-4, before going on to claim the second set, 6-4.

Capping off the evening, Stampfli and Perez-Martin went back-and-forth in a three-set match in #2 singles. Stampfli claimed the opening set, 7-5, before falling in a tiebreak, 7-3, in the second frame. However, the Eagles senior leader was able to dig deep and end the match with a 10-5 win in the superset tiebreak.

RESULTS VS. KSU
Doubles
#1: Ascúa/Curtis (FGCU) def. Perez-Martin/Hopton (KSU): 6-0
#2: Ornberg/Stampfli (FGCU) def. Baker/Mercado (KSU): 6-2
#3: Kelly/Forster (FGCU) vs. Cantrell/Tijani (KSU): 5-4, unfinished

Singles
#1: Ornberg (FGCU) def. Mercado (KSU): 6-0, 6-3
#2: Stampfli (FGCU) def. Perez-Martin (KSU): 7-5, 6-7 (3), 10-5
#3: Ascúa (FGCU) def. Hopton (KSU): 6-4, 6-3
#4: Falceto Font (FGCU) def. Craig (KSU): 7-6 (4), 6-4
#5: Kelly (FGCU) def. Cantrell (KSU): 6-1, 6-0
#6: Forster (FGCU) def. Jarrett (KSU): 6-0, 6-1
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5, 6, 1, 3, 4, 2)

UP NEXT
The Eagles remain at the FGCU Tennis Complex for their last two matches of the regular season, beginning with a dual against Lipscomb (5-15, 1-3 ASUN) Saturday at 5 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 ASUN Freshman of the Year and 2016 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 48-33 overall record (.593) and 19-5 conference record (.792) 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.