MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (April 22, 2016) – The No. 44-ranked FIU women's tennis team (16-2) defeated the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (14-8-1), 4-0, during quarterfinals action of the 2016 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The win was the Panthers' fifth-straight as FIU advances to the C-USA semifinals for the second-straight year.
Sophomore
Nerma Caluk registered the match-clinching point with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Alory Pereira at the No. 5 position. The win was Caluk's 27
th of the season.
FIU first got on the board, winning the doubles point as freshman
Maryna Veksler and junior
Nina Nagode downed Brittany Huxley and Giulia Squadrin, 6-4, and senior
Carlotta Orlando and redshirt freshman
Andrea Lazaro defeated Darya Shulzhanok and Sarah Sediri, 6-4.
Lazaro gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead with her 16
th-straight singles win, topping Luisa Zirilli, 6-0, 6-2. Nagode extended FIU's lead to 3-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Huxley before Caluk sealed the win.
With the victory, FIU improves to 3-2 all-time in the C-USA Championship and 9-1 all-time versus the Blue Raiders.
FIU will next take on the winner of the Old Dominion/Marshall quarterfinal match. The semifinal match is set for 1 p.m.
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).
#####
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/.
