MIAMI (March 11, 2011) - The FIU women's tennis team continued its winning ways, downing the Troy Trojans, 7-0, on Friday, March 11, at the FIU Tennis Courts. The victory marked the team's sixth-straight and improved the Panthers to a perfect 6-0 at home this season.
FIU (7-5) started the afternoon by taking all three doubles matches. The duo of junior Lisa Johnson and sophomore Rita Maisak breezed through their competition, defeating the duo of Lyubov Dorofeeva and Olivia Battye, 8-1. The Panthers' other two matches were a different story as seniors Liset Brito and Maria Spenceley and junior Christine Seredni and freshman Giulietta Boha fell behind to their opposition early. However, Brito and Spenceley battled back to defeat Karoline Grymel and Leonie Guijt, 9-7. The victory clinched the doubles point for the Panthers. Seredni and Boha rallied to down the pair of Rosaura Ramirez-Vega and Olfa Dhaoui, 8-5 to complete the sweep.
The Panthers finished the contest winning all six singles matches for the 7-0 sweep. Johnson scored the first singles point for the Panthers defeating Dhaoui, 6-0, 6-1. Maisak earned the team's third point of the day, winning 6-1, 6-3 over Ramirez-Vega. Boha earned her seventh singles victory of the season with a 6-2 6-3, win over Battye. The point won by the native of Wuerzburg, Germany, clinched the match for the Panthers and improved FIU to 4-0 versus Sun Belt opponents. Seredni collected the fifth point of the match for FIU, downing Guijt, 6-2, 6-1. Brito (No. 98), the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, registered her ninth win of the season and 56th of her career (No. 8 all-time at FIU) with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Grymel. The win marked Brito's sixth-straight as the Miami, Fla., native has not dropped a set since Feb. 11 (at No. 10 Miami). Spenceley closed out the match with a 6-1, 5-7, 10-6 win over Dorofeeva.
With the loss, Troy dropped to 5-9 on the year, while FIU improved to 7-5. The nationally ranked Panthers have now won seven-consecutive contests at home, dating back to last season.
The win also marked the 40th of Head Coach Melissa Applebaum-Dall'au's career. The third-year coach is fourth on the all-time wins list at FIU.
The Panthers will next host the FIU Panther Fundraiser Invitational on Saturday, March 12, before welcoming the North Texas Mean Green on Tuesday, March 15. The Fundraiser Invitational is schedule for all day while the Panther's match with the Mean Green will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Tennis Match Results
Troy vs FIU Panthers
Mar 11, 2011 at Miami, Fla.
FIU Panthers 7, Troy 0
Singles competition
1. #98 Brito, Liset (FIU) def. Grymel, Karoline (TROY) 6-4, 7-6 (10-4)
2. Johnson, Lisa (FIU) def. Dhaoui, Olfa (TROY) 6-0, 6-1
3. Seredni, Christine (FIU) def. Guijt, Leonie (TROY) 6-2, 6-1
4. Spenceley, Maria (FIU) def. Dorofeeva, Lyubov (TROY) 6-1, 5-7, 10-6
5. Maisak, Rita (FIU) def. Ramirez-Vega, Rosaura (TROY) 6-1, 6-3
6. Boha, Giulietta (FIU) def. Battye, Olivia (TROY) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Brito, Liset/Spenceley, Maria (FIU) def. Grymel, Karoline/Guijt, Leonie (TROY) 9-7
2. Boha, Giulietta/Seredni, Christine (FIU) def. Ramirez-Vega, Rosaura/Dhaoui, Olfa (TROY) 8-5
3. Johnson, Lisa/Maisak, Rita (FIU) def. Dorofeeva, Lyubov/Battye, Olivia (TROY) 8-1
Match Notes:
Troy 5-9
FIU Panthers 7-5; National ranking #58
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,5,6,3,1,4)
