FORT MYERS, FL – The FGCU women's tennis team (6-7, 1-1 ASUN) suffered a 4-1 loss to Big 10 foe Wisconsin (11-2, 3-0 Big 10) Wednesday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"Tonight was a really tough match, Wisconsin is a very good team and we were challenged," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "We came out in doubles and played strong to get the point. In singles it was a battle but we'll continue to move forward and work as we head into conference play."

The Eagles split the doubles point claiming a 6-3 win on the part of Sara Kelly (Naples, FL./Florida Virtual School) and Patricia Villar (Logrono, Spain/Louisiana Monroe). Shortly after their match was over, play was stopped due to rain and would not resume until nearly four hours later. With the top court still left in doubles, Julia Ascúa (Santa Fe, Argentina/Domingo G. Silva) and Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) picked up where they left off at 6-5 en route to a 7-6 win in the end, to give FGCU a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

In singles, the Badgers took their first lead after coming out on top first on court No. 1, followed by a win on the second flight. The clinching point for Wisconsin arrived on court No. 3 where Kelly battled back from a first set loss (1-6), taking her second set 7-5 before getting edged in the final set, 7-5.

Laura Falceto-Font (Zaragoza, Spain/El Pilar Maristas Zaragoza) and Villar both claimed a set in their respective matches before they would go unfinished.

Up Next
FGCU will focus on ASUN play from here on out as the Eagles host NJIT (12-2, 1-0 ASUN) at 5 p.m. this Saturday at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

Singles competition
1. #44 Sara Castellano (WIS) def. Maja Ornberg (FGCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. #72 Lexi Keberle (WIS) def. Julia Ascua (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Anna Makarova (WIS) def. Sara Kelly (FGCU) 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
4. Ava Markham (WIS) def. Sofia Perez (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Patricia Villar (FGCU) vs. Melissa Pick (WIS) 3-6, 6-0, 3-2, unfinished
6. Laura Falceto-Font (FGCU) vs. MaryAnn Rompf (WIS) 6-3, 2-6, 1-2, unfinished

Order of finish: Singles (1,2,4,3)

Doubles competition
1. Julia Ascua/Maja Ornberg (FGCU) def. Lexi Keberle/Anna Makarova (WIS) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Sara Kelly/Patricia Villar (FGCU) def. Ava Markham/Melissa Pick (WIS) 6-3
3. Sara Castellano/Christina Zordani (WIS) def. Bridget Forster/Sofia Perez (FGCU) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1)

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 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 67-49 overall record (.582) and 28-6 conference record (.824) in her six years at FGCU.