FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the first time this season, an FGCU women's tennis match came down to the final court as sophomore Jordana Ossa (Miami, Fla./John A. Ferguson Senior High/Wisconsin) faced the pressure on court five, but ultimately came out on top, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 over Emilie Haakansson of St. John's to clinch the match for the Eagles over the Red Storm, 4-3.

The Green and Blue, ranked #74 in the ITA rankings, improve to 6-4 on the season while St. John's falls to 5-5.

"Today was a really good battle," said head coach Courtney Vernon. "Both teams competed very hard and the fight and heart that Jordi showed to win her match today being down was quite impressive. She played with a lot of courage."

In the third set, Ossa and Haakansson broke each other for the first four games before Haakansson held serve to take a 3-2 lead. After three more breaks of serve, Haakansson served for the match up 5-3, but Ossa proceeded to break once more to get back on serve once again.

Now needing to hold serve for the first time in the set, Ossa faced match point on a deuce point, but was able to get Haakansson to commit an error to tie the set at five.

In the proceeding game, Ossa broke her opponent once again to take a 6-5 lead. Serving for the match at deuce, Ossa delivered a big serve which Haakansson was unable to return in play, clinching the victory for the Eagles.

In other singles action on the day, junior Alba Retortillo (Leon, Spain/La Anunciata) cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court six while junior Emma Bardet (Vichey, France/Long Beach State) won in three sets as well, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

Junior Ida Ferding (Vasteras, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) and sophomore Fanny Norin (Stockholm, Sweden/Thoren Business School) also went to three sets, but ultimately fell to their opponent in red while St. John's took the match on court two in straight sets.

All of this was possible for the Eagles because of the crucial doubles point they earned. On court three, Norin and freshman Lola Glantz (Lueneberg, Germany/Fernuniversitat) jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to win, 6-2, while Bardet and Ferding broke their opponents on court one at 4-3 before holding serve to win 6-3 and give the Eagles the advantage they ended up needing.

#74 FGCU 4, St. John's 3
Singles Action
1.    BARDET, Emma (FGCU) def. Mouna Bouzgarrou (SJU) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
2.    Lalita Devarakonda (SJU) def. COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) 6-0, 6-3
3.    Jayden Nielsen (SJU) def. FERDING, Ida (FGCU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
4.    Yesica de Lucas (SJU) def. NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5.    OSSA, Jordana (FGCU) def. Emilie Haakansson (SJU) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
6.    RETORTILLO, Alba (FGCU) def. Willa Bay Breunich (SJU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Action
1.    BARDET, Emma/FERDING, Ida (FGCU) def. Lalita Devarakonda/Mouna Bouzgarrou (SJU) 6-3
2.    RETORTILLO, Alba/COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) vs. Jayden Nielsen/Yesica de Lucas (SJU) 5-5, unfinished
3.    NORIN, Fanny/GLANTZ, Lola (FGCU) def. Camila Ordonez/Willa Bay Breunich (SJU) 6-2

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

The Eagles will return to action on March 13 when they host #44 Florida State. First serve from the FGCU Tennis Complex is set for 10:30 a.m.

For complete coverage of FGCU women's tennis, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WTEN and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU women's tennis or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

HEAD COACH COURTNEY VERNON
FGCU's women's tennis team is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year Courtney Vernon (9th 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 63 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 88-65 overall record (.576) and 36-10 conference record (.782).

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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters 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.