FORT MYERS, Fla. – The third-seeded FGCU women's tennis team (16-6) advanced to the ASUN Tournament quarterfinals Sunday by defeating sixth-seeded seed Kennesaw State (11-7) 4-1 at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
 
The Green & Blue will now face No. 2 seed Stetson (17-7) at 5 p.m. Friday in Jacksonville. The Hatters downed No. 7 seed Jacksonville State 4-1 earlier Sunday to secure their position in the semifinals.
 
"Today, Kennesaw came out ready to battle. They fought very hard in the singles, and didn't give us anything." said FGCU head women's tennis coach Courtney Vernon. "The ladies did a good job with the energy and fighting through each challenge, and we are looking forward to playing Stetson next weekend.
 
"A special thank you to our fans, Alba and Emma and our seniors. They have given so much to this program, and with this being their last home match of the season they did a phenomenal job!"

FGCU picked up the doubles point without having to finish the third match. Junior Jordana Ossa (Miami, Fla./John A. Ferguson Senior HS/Wisconsin) and senior Alba Retortillo (Leon, Spain/La Anuciata) teamed to win 6-1 at No. 2, and seniors Ida Ferding (Vasteras, Sweden/Akademi Basted Gymnasium) and Emma Bardet  (Vichy, France/Long Beach State) clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory at No. 1.

The Owls responded early in singles, as sophomore Isabella Colmenares (San Cristobal, Venezuela/Colegio Juan XXIII) dropped her No. 3 match 6-0, 6-0.
 
The Eagles answered quickly, though, with Bardet delivering an easy 6-2, 6-3 showing at No. 1. Ferding added to the Eagles advantage as she rallied to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5. And with her teammates cheering her on, Retortillo rallied in three sets to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 at No. 6 and clinch the match to send FGCU to the next round.
 

Doubles 
1. BARDET, Emma/FERDING, Ida (FGCU) def. Taylor Dean/Ji Youn Lee (KSUW) 6-3
2. OSSA, Jordana/RETORTILLO, Alba (FGCU) def. Sophia Unger/Izabelle Persson (KSUW) 6-1
3. NORIN, Fanny/COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) vs. Sofia Pinedo/Sofia Madrid (KSUW) 5-4, unfinished   
 

Singles 
1. BARDET, Emma (FGCU) def. Taylor Dean (KSUW) 6-2, 6-3
2. NORIN, Fanny (FGCU) vs. Ji Youn Lee (KSUW) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
3. Sofia Madrid (KSUW) def. COLMENARES, Isabella (FGCU) 6-0, 6-0
4. OSSA, Jordana (FGCU) vs. Sofia Pinedo (KSUW) 6-3, 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
5. FERDING, Ida (FGCU) def. Sophia Unger (KSUW) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. RETORTILLO, Alba (FGCU) def. Izabelle Persson (KSUW) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
 
Order of finish:  Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,1,5,6)
 
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 115-79 overall record (.592) and 50-11 conference record (.819).

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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 97 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 48 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. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five 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 3.67 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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