DENTON, Texas (April 21, 2017) – The FIU women's tennis team (20-1), won its 18th-straight match, blanking the Charlotte 49ers, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships on Friday.
Ranked No. 41 in the latest Oracle/ITA Women's Tennis National Rankings, the Panthers tied the school record for the program's longest winning streak, matching the 18 consecutive wins in the 2001 season, while notching the team's 14
th shutout of the season. The win marked the team's 20
th of the season, the most by an FIU squad since the 2005 campaign (21).
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, FIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead following doubles action. The duo of
Mina Markovic and
Gabriela Ferreira got things started with a 6-0 win over Megan Smith and Pierina Imparato. The Panthers clinched the doubles point with a victory by
Maryna Veksler and
Ulyana Grib over Tai Martin and Immie Cowper, 6-2.
Veksler gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Martin in singles action. The victory was her 23
rd of the year as the native of Kiev, Ukraine, improved to 16-2 at the No. 2 position this season. Ferreira won her 12
th-straight with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Smith to give FIU a 3-0 edge. The product of Asuncion, Paraguay, remained perfect in dual matches this season, improving to 10-0 following Friday's win. Grib clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Imparato. The victory gave the first-year Panther her 23
rd singles win of the season and her 17
th of the spring.
The win improves FIU to 5-3 all-time in the C-USA Women's Tennis Championships.
The Panthers will next face the winner of the Marshall/WKU match in the C-USA Semifinals on Saturday, April 22. First serve 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 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/.
