FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team (1-3) suffered a 6-1 loss to FAU (4-2) Sunday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"Today was a tough battle, FAU is a very solid team and we knew that coming into the match they were going to fight hard for everything," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "We're making steps every time we are competing. We lost a few matches in tiebreakers so we're continuing to grow each time out and reminded how grateful we are to be able to compete."

FAU took the first doubles court but the tandem of Sofia Perez (Alajuela, Costa Rica/Florida Virtual) and Ida Ferding (Vastera, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) claimed a 7-5 win on court No. 2, leaving the point in the hands of the top court to be decided. It was a back-and-forth battle for Maja Ornberg Kil, Sweden/De la Gardiegymnasiet, Lidkoping) and Emma Bardet (Vichy, France/Long Beach State) but the pair were just edged in the tiebreaker, 9-7.

In singles competition, FAU snagged court No. 3 but Alba Retortillo (Leon,Spain/ La Anunciata) cut into the Owls' lead to make it a 2-1 match, taking court No. 4 (6-3, 6-1). From there, FAU took the next two courts as the clincher came on court No. 6.

Meanwhile, Bardet and Ida Ferding (Vastera, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) each saw their matches go into a third-set tiebreaker. Ferding fought back to win her second set, 6-4, before falling in the tiebreaker, 7-4. Bardet battled back as well to claim her second set, 6-3, until a grueling 13-11 tiebreaker went FAU's way.

Up Next
FGCU returns back to The Nest taking on Toledo (3-2) this upcoming Saturday, Mar. 6 at Noon.  

Singles competition
1. Kudelova, Martina (FAU) def. ORNBERG, Maja (FGCU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Boltinskaya, Natalia (FAU) def. BARDET, Emma (FGCU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11)
3. Filip, Katerina (FAU) def. PEREZ, Sofia (FGCU) 6-0, 6-2
4. RETORTILLO, Alba (FGCU) def. McLelland, Louie (FAU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Kallmunzerova, Na (FAU) def. FERDING, Ida (FGCU) 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (7-4)
6. Kimhi, May (FAU) def. RAMALLE, Lourdes (FGCU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Boltinskaya, Natalia/McLelland, Louie (FAU) def. BARDET, Emma/ORNBERG, Maja (FGCU) 7-6 (9-7)
2. FERDING, Ida/PEREZ, Sofia (FGCU) def. Filip, Katerina/Kallmunzerova, Na (FAU) 7-5
3. Kudelova, Martina/Kimhi, May (FAU) def. RETORTILLO, Alba/RAMALLE, Lourdes (FGCU) 6-3

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

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.

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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 (8th 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 78-60 overall record (.565) and 32-8 conference record (.800).

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 83 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.