FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team (7-7, 3-0 ASUN) continued its dominant start in conference play topping NJIT (8-9, 1-3 ASUN) 6-1 Thursday evening at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

The Eagles have now won nine-consecutive regular season matches including 14 of the last 15 in their conference slate.

"I am pleased with the fight these ladies are showing in every game," stated head coach Courtney Vernon. "They are competing, fighting and they are committing to the process and it's exciting to see them enjoy the growth."

The Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after claiming two doubles matches. Sofia Perez (Alajuela, Costa Rica/Florida Virtual School) and Bridget Forster (Boca Raton, Fla./Florida Virtual School) dominated on court #3 coming out on top 6-2. NJIT gained a victory on court #1 but shortly after, the tandem of Madison Gallegos (Denver, Colo./Colorado Connections Academy) and Patricia Villar (Logrono, Spain/Bachillerato Santa Maria/Louisiana Monroe) clinched the point with a swift 6-1 victory.

Transitioning into singles competition and just as they did in doubles, Forster and Perez picked up FGCU's first wins on court #4 and #5, respectively. Forster picked up a pair of 6-2 sets while Perez also made quick work of her counterpart coming out on top 6-2, 6-1, ballooning the Eagle's lead up to 3-0.

One match later, the Highlanders cut into the Green and Blue's deficit claiming a victory on court #2. Just as the visitors were putting the pressure back on the Eagles forcing third-set games, reigning ASUN Player of the Week Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) eliminated any chance of a comeback. The Sweden native bounced NJIT's Advaita Saravanan on court #1 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the fourth point for FGCU.

Gallegos and Villar saw their matches go into third sets as each Eagle triumphed and picked up the final two points 6-1, 6-0, in each of their respective third sets.

DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Holly Matson/Rafaella Sampaio (NJIT) def. Maja Ornberg/ Julia Ascúa (FGCU) 6-3
2. Madison Gallegos/Patricia Villar (FGCU) def. Advaita Saravanan/Amanda Helminsky (NJIT) 6-1
3. Sofia Perez/Bridget Forster (FGCU) def. Mayar Eltony/Alba Rosas Garcia (NJIT) 6-2

SINGLES RESULTS
1. Maja Ornberg (FGCU) def. Advaita Saravanan (NJIT) 6-2, 6-4
2. Mayar Eltony (NJIT) def. Julia Ascúa (FGCU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
3. Madison Gallegos (FGCU) def. Holly Matson (NJIT) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. Sofia Perez (FGCU) def. Rafaella Sampaio (NJIT) 6-2, 6-1
5. Bridget Forster (FGCU) def. Alba Rosas Garcia (NJIT) 6-2, 6-2
6. Patricia Villar (FGCU) def. Amanda Helminsky (NJIT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,5,2,1,3,6)

UP NEXT
FGCU takes returns to the hard courts this Saturday to face USC Upstate (1-15, 0-3 ASUN) at 5 p.m in its second to last home match of the season.

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 58-41 overall record (.586) and 24-5 conference record (.827) in her four years at FGCU.