MIAMI (Jan. 25, 2015) – The FIU women's tennis team (1-0) opened the 2015 season with a 4-3 win over the Liberty Flames (2-1) on Sunday afternoon at the FIU Tennis Courts.
 
With the scored tied at 3-3, freshman Nerma Caluk clinched the match with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) victory over Emily Groeneveld at the No. 3 position.
 
Trailing 1-0 after dropping the doubles points, FIU tied the match, as senior Yana Koroleva over made quick work of Mariely Hassey (6-1, 6-3) at the No. 1 spot. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead as junior Carlotta Orlando defeated Belen Rivera at the No. 2 position. 
 
The Flames tied the match, 2-2, as sophomore Valentina Briceno (No. 6) lost to Nicola Wellman, 6-2, 6-2. FIU regained the lead, 3-2, as sophomore Nina Nagode (No. 4) picked up the 6-3, 6-2 win over Maria Khval. The Flames tied the match yet again, 3-3, with a 6-3, 7-5 loss by junior Kaitlin Brozovich to Evangeline Crist. However, Caluck's straight-set victory gave the Panthers the 4-3 win.
 
Earlier in the day, Liberty took 2-of-3 matches from the Panthers in doubles action to take an early 1-0 lead. The duo of Nagode and Orlando defeated Groeneveld and Valerie Thong, 6-1. The Flames took the next two matches as Koroleva and Caluk fell to Khval and Brittany Yang, 6-2, and Briceno and Brozovich lost to Rivera and Crist, 6-3.
 
The Panthers will host the Stetson Hatters on Friday, Jan. 30. First serve is set for noon from the FIU Tennis Courts. 
 
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).
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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 seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. 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. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.