FLORENCE, Ala. – No. 68 FGCU women's tennis clinched at least a share of the ASUN regular-season crown Friday with a 5-2 victory over North Alabama.
The 2022 ASUN regular-season title for FGCU marks the third in program history, dating back 2017 and 2018.
With Thursday's season finale win, the Eagles improved to 14-6 overall and 8-1 in the ASUN, capturing its fifth-straight match victory. North Alabama dropped to 3-18 in the loss and 1-7 in the ASUN.
"Today was another good opportunity to compete," head coach Courtney Vernon said. "The ladies are continuing to learn every time we play. We are looking forward to getting home to get back to work in preparation for the championships we are hosting next week."
The Green and Blue took care of business Friday, winning the doubles point and the first four singles matches to be finished.
In doubles, Emma Bardet and Ida Ferding won 6-2, the duo's 13th doubles victory of the season, on doubles court No. 1 to secure an 1-0 Eagle advantage heading into singles action. In the ASUN, the Bardet and Ferding doubles team improved to 8-1.
In singles, Bardet, Ferding, Jordana Ossa and Gabriela Macias each won their match in straight sets as FGCU won on courts 1 and 4-6. Ossa's 6-0, 6-0 victory marked her fifth-straight singles win and her 18th of the season.
On court No. 3, Fanny Norin snapped a 10-match singles win streak in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-2, 4-6 and 8-10.
FGCU entered today's match tied for first place in the ASUN along with Stetson and North Florida at 7-1 in the conference. Both Stetson and North Florida will close its regular-season campaign on Saturday.
Tomorrow, Stetson will battle Liberty (17-6, 6-2 ASUN) on the road, and North Florida will travel to Bellarmine (1-21, 0-8 ASUN). For a chance at an outright regular-season title for the Eagles, both the Hatters and the Ospreys would have to lose Saturday.
If a tie atop of the standings occurs, co-champions will be declared. For the purposes of seeding in the ASUN Championship, head-to-head tiebreakers will result among teams involved in the tie and then the ITA rankings.
The ASUN Championship will be held in Fort Myers, Florida, on April 22-24 as the Eagles are set to host the conference championship at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
FGCU 5, North Alabama 2
Singles competition
1. BARDET, Emma (FGCU) def. Payton Andrews [UNA] 6-1, 6-2
2. Sydney Flesch [UNA] def. COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) 7-5, 6-2, 10-7
3. Juliette Talieu [UNA] def. NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) 6-2, 6-4, 10-8
4. FERDING, Ida (FGCU) def. Kalais Going [UNA] 6-1, 6-3
5. OSSA, Jordana (FGCU) def. Gabriela Cevallos [UNA] 6-0, 6-0
6. MACIAS, Gabriela def. (FGCU) Nicole Reilly [UNA] 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. BARDET, Emma/FERDING, Ida (FGCU) def. Kalais Going / Juliette Talieu [UNA] 6-2
2. RETORTILLO, Alba/MACIAS, Gabriela (FGCU) vs. Payton Andrews / Sydney Flesch [UNA] Unfinished
3. OSSA, Jordana/NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) def. Gabriela Cevallos / Lee-Taylor Bishop [UNA] 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,5,1,4,2,3)
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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 (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 97-66 overall record (.595) and 44-10 conference record (.815).
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#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 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.
