MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (April 23, 2016) – The No. 44-ranked FIU women's tennis team (17-2) defeated the Old Dominion Monarchs (14-8), 4-2, on Saturday afternoon to earn a berth in the finals of this year's Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The win improves the Panthers to 4-2 all-time in the C-USA Championships and 1-0 all-time versus ODU. The Monarchs came into the semifinal match ranked No. 75 in the latest Oracle/ITA Rankings.
The Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead following a pair of victories in doubles action. Senior
Kaitlin Brozovich and sophomore
Nerma Caluk defeated Marijana Novakovic and Borislava Botusharov, 6-4, while junior
Nina Nagode and freshman
Maryna Veksler downed Ingrid Vojcinakova and Adriana Rajkovic, 7-5, to give FIU the early lead.
Nagode extended the Panthers' lead to 2-0 with a straight-set victory over Rajkovic, 6-0, 6-1, to kick off singles action. The win was her 22
nd of the season and improved the Idrija, Slovenia native's record to 13-3 in dual matches this season.
ODU got on the board when senior
Carlotta Orlando fell to Nikol Hristova, 6-2, 6-1 to cut the Panther lead to 2-1. The Monarchs tied the match at 2-2 following a loss by Veksler to Botusharov, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
FIU regained the lead, 3-2, as redshirt freshman
Andrea Lazaro won her 18
th-straight singles match with a 7-6 (7), 6-3 victory over Nataliya Vlasova. Caluk closed out the match with a 6-1, 0-6, 7-6 (3), win over Vojcinakova for her team-leading 28
th singles win on the year. It marked the second-straight, match-clinching point for the native of Kakanj, Bosnia/Herzegovina.
The Panthers will face the No. 45-ranked Rice Owls in the championship match on Sunday, April 24. First serve is set for 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).
#####
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/.
