Live Stats
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team will begin its 2023 season this weekend with two matches at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
The Eagles open at 9 a.m. Friday with a test against Big East Tournament semifinalist St. John's. A day later, Conference USA foe Middle Tennessee visits at 9 a.m. Saturday.
FGCU returns its entire 2022 roster, and added freshman
Amelia Kopel (
Wroclaw, Poland/International High School of Wroclaw) to the mix of veteran talent. FGCU finished its 2022 campaign 14-7 and posted an 8-1 mark in the ASUN Conference to win a share of the conference regular-season title for the third time in program history. The Green & Blue also earned the No. 1 overall seed and hosted the ASUN Tournament.
The Green & Blue's No. 1 doubles pair of senior
Emma Bardet (
Vichy, France/Long Beach State) and senior
Ida Ferding (
Vasteras, Sweden Akademi/Bastad Gymnasium) cracked the national rankings at No. 85. Bardet and Ferding posted a team-leading 13 doubles team wins on the year and defeated the 15th-ranked duo in the country.
The squad closed the season ranked No. 71 in the nation, FGCU's highest finish in Division I history. The Eagles climbed as high as No. 62 during the season.
After this weekend's two home matches, FGCU hits the road for matches at Florida State (Jan. 20), at Florida A&M (Jan. 21) and at Miami (Feb. 3). The Green & Blue then return home for an eight-match non-conference homestand. The Eagles will start ASUN Conference competition against Central Arkansas on March 17 at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
The Green & Blue was picked to finish fourth in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll. North Florida was picked as the 2023 favorite, receiving five first-place votes and 156 overall points. Stetson was second with two first-place votes and 154 points. Liberty (152), Kennesaw State (105), Austin Peay (89), Jacksonville State (85), Central Arkansas (82), Lipscomb (79), North Alabama (51), Bellarmine (36), Eastern Kentucky (30) and Queens (N.C.) (29) round out the poll.
In the classroom, the Eagles posted their 21st straight semester team GPA of 3.5 or higher. The squad earned ITA All-Academic Team honors, as six Eagles were named scholar-athletes.
St. John's recorded a 18-6 campaign and a perfect 7-0 Big East conference record in 2022. Middle Tennessee went 9-15 in 2022.
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).
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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#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 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
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