CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With weather forcing a change to the schedule, the FGCU women's tennis team went on the road to face the #17 Miami Hurricanes, falling 6-1 Saturday afternoon. The Eagles (1-2) were tasked with a pair of nationally-ranked singles opponents and a nationally-ranked doubles team from Miami (2-1).

"Today was another great learning experience," said head coach Courtney Vernon. Miami is one of the toughest teams in the country and it showed in their aggressive play. We are making progress each outing due to our hard work and how we're being challenged.  We look forward to practice this week as we prepare for Middle Tennessee this weekend at home."

The difficult task began early as the pairing of Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Julianna Curtis (West Des Moines, Iowa/Allendale Academy) faced the #33 doubles team in the country in Ana Madcur and Estela Perez-Somarriba, dropping a 6-0 decision to begin the day. Madison Gallegos (Denver, Colo./Colorado Connections Academy) and Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) were then defeated 6-2 at No. 2 doubles by Dominika Paterova and Daniella Roldan. The two sides finished doubles with Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Sofia Perez (Costa Rica/Florida Virtual School) fell 6-2 to Sinead Lohan and Ulyana Shirokova at No. 3.

As the match transitioned to doubles, FGCU dropped contests at No. 1, 6, and 5 to clinch the match for the Hurricanes. Ascúa fell to #16 Perez-Somarriba 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 while Curtis lost at No. 6 to Dominkia Paterova 6-1, 6-2. Patricia Villar (Logrono, Spain/Bachillerato Santa Maria/Louisiana Monroe) dropped a 6-4, 6-0 decision to Shirokova for Miami's fourth point.

FGCU's victory on the day came from Gallegos as the newcomer took down Daniella Roldan 7-6, 7-5 at No. 3.

Ornberg claimed her first set at No. 2 against #58 Sinead Lohan but the Hurricane bounced back to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 win. In the final match, Perez lost 6-4, 7-6 to Madcur at No. 4.

The Eagles are back in action at home Sat. Feb. 17 against Middle Tennessee at 11 a.m.

COMPLETE RESULTS
DOUBLES RESULTS
1) #33 Ana Madcur/Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Julia Ascua/Julianna Curtis (FGCU) 6-0
2) Dominika Paterova/Daniella Roldan (UM) def. Madison Gallegos/Maja Ornberg (FGCU) 6-2
3) Sinead Lohan/Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Bridget Forster/Sofia Perez (FGCU) 6-2
SINGLES RESULTS
1) #16 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Julia Ascua (FGCU) 6-0, 6-2
2) #58 Sinead Lohan (UM) def. Maja Ornberg (FGCU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-0
3) Madison Gallegos (FGCU) def. Daniella Roldan (UM) 7-6, 7-5
4) Ana Madcur (UM) def. Sofia Perez (FGCU) 6-4, 7-6
5) Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Patricia Villar (FGCU) 6-4, 6-0
6) Dominkia Paterova (UM) def. Julianna Curtis (FGCU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3), Singles (1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2)

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 two-time ASUN Coach of the Year Courtney Vernon, whose fourth season under the helm saw the Eagles claim their first ASUN Championship in program history. She has mentored her student-athletes into earning 43 ASUN All-Conference and All-Academic honors, including the 2014, 2016 and 2017 ASUN Freshman of the Year as well as the 2016 and 2017 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 52-36 overall record (.600) and 21-5 conference record (.808) in her four years at FGCU.