GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The FGCU women's tennis team (7-3) fought hard against No. 15 Florida (5-1), Wednesday afternoon, but fell to the Gators 7-0 at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. 
 
"Florida played very well today," said FGCU head women's tennis coach Courtney Vernon. "On every single court, they pushed us and competed at a very high level. Losing is never fun – but on days like today, the opportunity is very great to learn more about how we compete when we are being pushed out of our comfort zone. We will take a lot from today, and look to prepare for our next match."  
 
Florida won all three doubles matches to begin the day. 
 
In singles, Sophomore Gabriela Macias (Barranquilla, Colombia/Colegio Fontan) lost 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 and junior Jordana Ossa (Miami, Fla./John A. Ferguson Senior HS/Wisconsin) fell 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4. Sophomore Isabella Colmenares (San Cristobal, Venezuela/Colegio Juan XXIII) fell 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3. 
 
Junior Fanny Norin (Stockholm, Sweden/Thoren Business School) dropped her match 6-2, 6-1 against No. 83 Sara Dahlstrom at No. 2, and senior Ida Ferding (Vasteras, Sweden/Akademi Basted Gymnasium) battled against No. 106 Anastasia Sysoeva before falling 6-1, 7-5 at No. 5.
 
Senior Emma Bardet (Vichey, France/Long Beach State) fell 6-4, 6-2 to No. 61 ranked Carly Briggs at No. 1.
 
The Eagles return to the court March 6 to host Army (10-5). First serve is set for 11. a.m. at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
 
 
UF 7, FGCU 0
 
Singles Competition 
1. #61 Carly Briggs (UF) def. BARDET, Emma (FGCU) 6-4, 6-2
2. #83 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) def. NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. OSSA, Jordana (FGCU) 6-0, 6-1
5. #106 Anastasia Sysoeva (UF) def. FERDING, Ida (FGCU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Emily de Oliveira (UF) def. MACIAS, Gabriela (FGCU) 6-0, 6-0 
 
Doubles Competition 
1. Carly Briggs/Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. BARDET, Emma/FERDING, Ida (FGCU) 6-2
2. Rachel Gailis/Emma Shelton (UF) def. RETORTILLO, Alba/OSSA, Jordana (FGCU) 6-2
3. Sara Dahlstrom/Bente Spee (UF) def. COLMENARES, Isabella/NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) 7-6 (7-4)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,3,2,5,1) 
 
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 107-75 overall record (.587) and 44-11 conference record (.800). 
 
 
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 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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