FT. MYERS, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2014) – The FIU women's tennis team (1-0) earned a 4-3 victory over the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (2-3) on Saturday afternoon from the FGCU Tennis Complex.
The win improves FIU to 2-1 all-time versus the Eagles as the Panthers win their season opener for the first time since the 2010 campaign.
FIU took an early 1-0 lead, winning the doubles point, 2-1. The duo of freshmen
Nina Nagode and
Tina Mohorcic downed Elizabeth Means and Sarah Means, 6-3, while the team of sophomore
Carlotta Orlando and senior
Giulietta Boha defeated Gyanna Mandic and Breana Stampfli, 6-2. In the final doubles match, sophomore
Aleksandra Trifunovic and freshman
Valentina Briceno fell to Bettina Botha and Johanna Sterkel, 7-5.
In singles action, FGCU tied the match at 1-1 as Briceno fell to Candela Munoz Giron, 6-0, 6-2. Back-to-back wins by Mohorcic (6-3, 6-2 over E. Means) and Boha (6-4, 6-3 over Botha) gave FIU a 3-1 edge. The Eagles cut the Panthers lead to 3-2 with a 6-2, 6-3 win by Stampfli over Nagode. However, Trifunovic clinched the match with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 win over Sterkel. Orlando fell to S. Means, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 11-9, to close out the match.
FIU will next travel to Jacksonville, Fla., to face the North Florida Osprey on Friday, Feb. 7. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m. ET.
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 Google+ (FIU Athletics), 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 U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu
