PACIFIC PALISADES, California (Oct. 7, 2017) – The magical ride for FIU senior tennis student-athlete
Andrea Lazaro came to an end in the semifinals of the 2017 Riviera ITA All-American Championship Saturday afternoon, as she fell in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to Florida Atlantic's Aliona Bolsova. The tournament is being held at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Lazaro has been playing in the tournament since Tuesday, finishing the week 5-2. Entering the week ranked No. 29, Lazaro defeated all ranked opponents, from No. 75 and all the way up to a win against the ninth-ranked player in the country, a program best. Her two losses were against No. 35 and Bolsova entered at No. 30.
No previous Panther has advanced this far in this prestigious, invitation-only event.
"I never thought that I would make it this far, playing the semifinals of the All-American but I played every point with a positive attitude and I made it happen!" said Lazaro after the semifinals.
"I am so proud of representing this University and to bring the FIU Tennis level up".
Next up, the team competes at the 2017 ITA Regionals in Athens, Georgia. The tournament starts on October 19.
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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
