MIAMI (Nov.16, 2017) – FIU senior
Andrea Lazaro has moved up to No. 3 in the latest Oracle/ITA Women's National Singles Rankings. The Panthers doubles team of junior
Maryna Veksler and sophomore
Ulyana Grib is ranked No. 15 in the Oracle/ITA Women's National Doubles Rankings.
After reaching the second round at the ITA Oracle Masters and the semifinals at the ITA All-American Championships, Lazaro took the title at the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Indian Wells, Calif.
Lazaro jumped 26 spots from the pre-season ITA Oracle rankings in September and garnered twelve victories during the semester -- all against nationally ranked players, including two top 10 players (North Carolina's Sara Devettila and Auburn's Alize Michaud). Overall, Lazaro has a career mark of 56-17.
FIU's doubles team of Veksler, and Grib, who were 22-4 in the 2016-17 season, notched the duo's first career ranking and the first doubles tandem in FIU history to be ranked No. 15 in the nation.
During the fall campaign, the duo reached the semifinals of the 2017 ITA Regional Championships in Athens, Georgia. There Veksler and Grib beat No. 3-seeded Page Hourigan and Kenya Jones of Georgia Tech in the final. The duo also qualified for the 2017 National Fall Championships where they beat the No. 25 team in the Oracle/ITA Women's Doubles Rankings.
"It is a great achievement because all of the girls deserve these rankings," said FIU tennis coach
Katarina Petrovic. "It shows that we work hard on players' development and that the program is improving every year. It is nice when the results are coming but we can still get to another level. We want all players to keep improving and now we need to focus on the spring season."
The Panthers next play in the first dual match on Jan. 21 against Kansas State at the FIU Tennis courts.
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