BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - FGCU Women's Tennis captured three wins over Notre Dame on Saturday during day two of the Bonita Bay Club Classic.
"Notre Dame competed very well this afternoon against us," head coach Courtney Vernon said. "We struggled handling the challenges that we had on court and off court, but that is the most wonderful thing about competition as it exposes those areas that we need to grow in. We are looking forward to competing again tomorrow."
The Eagles won one doubles match followed by two singles matchups, including a ranked singles victory by Emma Bardet (France).
Bardet notched her singles win over No. 82 Julia Andreach by way of retirement, marking Bardet's second ranked singles victory of the fall season. At the time of Andreach's departure, Bardet had won the opening set 6-4.
Lola Glantz (Germany) posted the Eagles second singles victory on Saturday, winning a thrilling three-set match 7-6 (10-8), 3-6, 11-9.
Isabella Colmenares (Venezuela) also squared off against a ranked Fighting Irish opponent, No. 63 overall Page Freeman, but would fall in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
Both Amelia Kopel (Poland) and Alba Retortillo (Spain) pushed their opponents and battled stride-for-stride. Kopel forced a second set tiebreak in a 5-7, 6-7 (4) effort, while Retortillo also forced an opening-set tiebreak before falling 6-7 (8-10), 4-6.
In total, Norte Dame grabbed six out of the eight singles matches.
In doubles action, the Glantz and Kopel pair recorded FGCU's lone doubles victory, 6-4, as the Fighting Irish would win three out of the four doubles matches against the Green and Blue.
FGCU will return to action on Sunday against Memphis to close out both the Bonita Bay Classic and the fall season. The first serve against the Tigers is set for 12:30 p.m. at the Bonita Bay Club in Bonita Springs, Florida.
RESULTS (Notre Dame v. FGCU)
Doubles:
Freeman/Coleman def. Bardet/Ferding (FGCU) 6-4
Yellayi/Hanford def. Macias/Retortillo (FGCU) 6-3
Beckman/Andreach def. Ossa/Colmenares (FGCU) 6-2
Kopel/Glantz (FGCU) def. Ghosh/Matsuno 6-4
Singles:
Bardet, Emma (FGCU) def. #82 Andreach, Julia 6-4, ret. injury
#63 Freeman, Page def. Colmenares, Isabella (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
Ghosh, Nibi def. Kopel, Amelia (FGCU) 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Matsuno, Akari def. Norin, Fanny (FGCU) walkover
Yashna, Yellayi def. Ferding, Ida (FGCU) 6-0, 6-2
Rylie, Hanford def. Gabriela, Macias (FGCU) 6-2,-6-3
Beckman, Carrie def. Retortillo, Alba (FGCU) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4
Glantz, Lola (FGCU) def. Coleman, Meghan 7-6 (10-8), 3-6, 11-9
HEAD COACH COURTNEY VERNON
FGCU's women's tennis team is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year Courtney Vernon (10th season) who led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN regular-season crowns in her fifth season during 2018, adding a third regular-season title in 2022. She has mentored her student-athletes into earning 66 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 an 99-73 overall record (.575) and 44-11 conference record (.800).
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 44 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
