MIAMI (Feb. 26, 2016) – The No. 62-ranked FIU women's tennis team (6-1) won its fifth-straight in convincing fashion, defeating the Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-10), 7-0, on Friday afternoon from the FIU Tennis Courts.
The win marked the first home win of the season for the Panthers, who are off to their best start since the 2001 season. That year, the Panthers finished 23-3 with a final ITA ranking of No. 24.
FIU opened the afternoon, taking the doubles point as senior
Carlotta Orlando and redshirt freshman
Andrea Lazaro defeated Ani Gogvadze and Renu Sharma, 6-2, and sophomore
Nerma Caluk and senior
Kaitlin Brozovich topped Anna Veleva and Alejandra Barcelo, 6-0.
The Panthers took all six singles matches to complete the sweep with five of the six wins in straight sets. Freshman
Maryna Veksler notched her 21
st win of the season, defeating Klaea Supejova, 6-2, 6-2. Junior
Nina Nagode downed Gogvadze, 6-2, 6-0, while Orlando, who clinched the match, won over Marie Mayerova, 6-0, 6-2. Lazaro won her eighth-straight singles match with a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Veleva. Caluk earned a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Sharma, while Brozovich downed Barcelo, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.
The 7-0 victory marked the fifth time this season that FIU has swept an opponent.
The Panthers will host the UT Arlington Mavericks on Sunday, Feb. 28. First serve from the FIU Tennis Courts is set for 12:00 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUWTennis) for all the latest FIU women's tennis news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium. About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
