FORT MYERS, FL – The FGCU women's tennis team (4-6) fell to the hands of UT Arlington (8-2) by a final score of, 4-3, Thursday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"UTA came out and battled us on every court. We came out in doubles and played very aggressive but we're making steps," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "Like I continue to say, it's all about progress and continuing to take those steps and aggressive play. We'll take that mentality into Saturday against Lipscomb."

FGCU took the 1-0 lead after capturing courts Nos. 3 and 1 in doubles action. On court No. 3, Satomi Momose (Tokyo, Japan/St. Petersburg College) teamed up with Ida Ferding (Vasteras, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) for the first time this season to produce a 6-2 victory. The Eagles clinched the doubles point on the premiere court as Sara Kelly (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Julia Fisch (New York, N.Y./Arizona State) claimed a 6-3 win.

Transitioning into singles, Ferding made it 2-0 in FGCU's favor in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) before UTA claimed its first point on court No. 4. Up next, Maja Ornberg (Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) snagged the top court 6-2, 6-1, but Mavericks tied the match with a three-set triumph on court No. 2.

Now tied 3-3, this left court No. 6 as the deciding match. Lourdes Ramalle (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Portland) claimed her first set but would drop the second set before narrowly falling in the third set, 4-6. It proved to be the longest singles match of the season for FGCU, lasting more than three hours.

Singles competition
1. Maja Ornberg (FGCU) def. Akimova, Polina (UTA) 6-2, 6-1
2. Horiguchi, Momoka (UTA) def. Satomi Momose (FGCU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
3. Chileno, Liz (UTA) def. Sara Kelly (FGCU) 5-7, 1-2, retired
4. Garcia Mendez, Aida (UTA) def. Alba Retortillo (FGCU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ida Ferding (FGCU) def. Natal, Lucia (UTA) 6-1, 6-3
6. Pons, Carla (UTA) def. Lourdes Ramalle (FGCU) 0-6, 7-5, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Julia Fisch/Sara Kelly (FGCU) def. Akimova, Polina/Takeuchi, Nanaka (UTA) 6-3
2. Lourdes Ramalle/Alba Retortillo (FGCU) vs. Horiguchi, Momoka/Natal, Lucia (UTA) 4-2, unfinished
3. Satomi Momose/Ida Ferding (FGCU) def. Boza, Almudena/Pons, Carla (UTA) 6-2

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

Up Next
FGCU returns to the courts Saturday morning to open ASUN play at home versus Lipscomb at 11 a.m.

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 (entering 7th season) 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 59 ASUN All-Conference and All-Academic honors, including 2014, 2016 and 2017 ASUN Freshman of the Year as well as the 2016, 2017 and 2019 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2018 Player of the Year. Vernon has led the Green and Blue to a 76-56 overall record (.581) and 31-8 conference record (.795).