MIAMI (March 27, 2015) – The FIU women's tennis team (9-6) defeated Conference USA foe UTSA (9-10), 4-3, on Friday afternoon from the FIU Tennis Courts.
With the win, FIU improved to 9-1 at home and 3-0 versus conference teams on the year.
In the first meeting between the two schools, UTSA jumped out to a 1-0 lead wining the doubles point. Already with a 1-0 deficit in doubles action due to being short-handed, the duo of senior
Yana Koroleva and sophomore
Nina Nagode evened the best-of-three series with a 6-0 victory over M. Rosell Canudas and Jacobea Junger. However, freshman
Nerma Caluk and sophomore
Valentina Briceno fell to Nicole Karaklis and Alena Shichkova, 7-5, as the Panthers lost the doubles portion of the match.
The Roadrunners extended their lead to 2-0 in singles play via a walkover victory as FIU played with only five. The Panthers responded by winning three-straight in singles action to take a 3-2 lead. Koroleva defeated Rosell Canudas, 6-3, 6-2, Nagode downed Shichkova, 6-2, 6-2, and Caluk topped Junger, 6-1, 6-4, to five the Panthers a one-point lead.
Briceno clinched the match for the Panthers, defeating Lina Hallgren, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. The match concluded with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss for junior
Kaitlin Brozovich to Karaklis.
The Panthers will host the No. 74-ranked Marshall Thundering Herd in the team's final home match of the season on Saturday, March 28. First serve is set for noon.
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/.
