IRVING, Texas (April 18, 2016) – This year's seeding for the upcoming Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, have been released and FIU has earned the No. 1 seed the league announced on Monday.
The Panthers (15-2), ranked No. 43 in the latest Oracle/ITA Rankings (April 12), have earned a first-round bye and will begin its quest for the 2016 C-USA Championship on Friday, April 22, at 11 a.m. ET. FIU will face the winner of the first round match between Middle Tennessee and WKU. Last season, the Panthers advanced to the C-USA Semifinals as the No. 5 seed. FIU comes into Friday's match with a 2-2 mark all-time in the C-USA Women's Tennis Championships.
The Panthers wrapped up their best regular season in 15 years. The 15 wins by FIU are the most since 2009, while the team's .882 winning percentage to end the regular season is the second-best in school history.
FIU has five student-athletes that have posted 20-or-more wins this season, including two-time C-USA Athletes of the Week
Andrea Lazaro, who posted a perfect regular season in singles play having tallied a 15-0 record this Spring, sophomore
Nerma Caluk, who leads the team with 26 singles wins and freshman
Maryna Veksler, who has posted 25 wins and was named the C-USA Player of the Month for October.
Below is the complete schedule for the 2016 C-USA Women's Tennis Championships:
First Round - Thursday, April 21Match 1: (4) Old Dominion vs. (13) UTSA - 10 a.m.
Match 2: (7) Southern Miss vs. (10) UTEP -- 10 a.m.
Match 3: (5) Marshall vs. (12) Florida Atlantic - 1 p.m.
Match 4: (3) North Texas vs. (14) UAB -- 1 p.m.
Match 5: (8) Middle Tennessee vs. (9) WKU -- 4 p.m.
Match 6: (6) Louisiana Tech vs. (11) Charlotte -- 4 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 22Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. (1) FIU - 11 a.m.
Match 8: Match 2 winner vs. (2) Rice - 11 a.m.
Match 9: Match 1 winner vs. Match 3 winner - 3 p.m.
Match 10: Match 4 winner vs. Match 6 winner -- 3 p.m.
Semifinals - Saturday, April 23Match 11: Match 7 winner vs. Match 9 winner - 11 p.m.
Match 12: Match 8 winner vs. Match 10 winner - 11 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, April 24Match 7: Match 11 winner vs. Match 12 winner - 11 a.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).
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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/.
