FORT MYERS, Fla. – Behind two wins in doubles and three in singles play, the FGCU women's tennis team (1-1) defeated Georgia State (0-1) 4-1 Friday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"Georgia State is a tough team, they battled hard against us today and we were thankful to be challenged by them," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "The ladies are committed to giving 100 percent of what they have to give each day. We spoke after the match about the moments they showed courage and stepped into the court and played outside their comfort zone. We're excited and grateful to compete against Miami tomorrow."

It was a close battle from the start as Madison Gallegos (Denver, Colo./Colorado Connections Academy) and Sofia Perez (Alajuela, Costa Rica/Florida Virtual School) pulled away on court No. 3 with a 7-5 victory. The Eagles would fall on court No. 2, 7-5 but the tandem of Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) and Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) broke the split with a 7-5 victory on court one to give the Eagles the lead heading into singles.

Gallegos continued FGCU's momentum taking down Anastasia Grosheva in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) as she collected her first win of the season. GSU would pull within one following a win on court No. 2 until Perez made it a 3-1 match with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on Court No. 5, also her first win of the season. Meanwhile, on court No. 1, Ornberg clawed back from a 0-6 second set only to take the third set 7-6, winning the tiebreaker, 8-2. She joined her teammates in collecting her first win of 2019 and in the process, clinched the match for FGCU. Courts No. 2 and No.  4 would go unfinished.

UP NEXT
It's a quick turnaround for the Eagles as they will face #17 Miami (1-0) Saturday morning at 9 am.

Doubles competition
1. Julia Ascúa/Maja Ornberg (FGCU) def. Andreea Stanescu/Daniela Ramirez (GSU) 7-5
2. Eva Chivu/Damira Muminovic (GSU) def. Madison Gallegos/ Sofia Perez (FGCU) 7-5
3. Sara Kelly/Laura Font (FGCU) def. Anastasia Grosheva/Lara Vovk (GSU) 6-3

Singles competition
1. Maja Ornberg (FGCU) def. Eva Chivu (GSU) 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (8-2)
2. Sara Kelly (FGCU) vs. Damira Muminovic (GSU) 7-6 (7-5), 4-3, unfinished
3. Daniela Ramirez (GSU) def. Julia Ascúa (FGCU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Laura Font (FGCU) vs. Andreea Stanescu (GSU) 6-2, 1-3, unfinished
5. Sofia Perez (FGCU) def. Lara Vovk (GSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Madison Gallegos (FGCU) def. Anastasia Grosheva (GSU) 6-2, 6-1

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

FOLLOW ALONG
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HEAD COACH COURTNEY VERNON
FGCU's women's tennis team is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year Courtney Vernon, who led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN regular-season crowns in her fifth season in 2018. She has mentored her student-athletes into earning 56 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 and the 2018 Player of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 62-43 overall record (.586) and 27-5 conference record (.827) in her six years at FGCU.