MIAMI (March 19, 2018) – The FIU women's tennis team (10-1) defeated UTEP (5-10), 4-0 on Monday, March 19 at the FIU Tennis Courts. This victory marked the team's ninth-straight victory and fifth home win.
 
The Panthers, ranked No. 38 in the latest Oracle/ITA ranking, won their 10th match and fourth shutout of the season. 
 
FIU won the first point of the day in about 30 minutes. The pair of Andrea Lazaro and Nerma Caluk, won their 11th consecutive match and first at postion no. 2  and defeated UTEP's Maria Medina and Yvette Van Oijen, 6-0. The tandem of Mina Markovic and Sandra Bozinovic won over Chloe Purkiss and Erandi Martinez, 6-1. Ulyana Grib and Maryna Veksler, ranked at No. 9 in the Oracle/ITA national doubles rankings, were not able to complete their match.

In singles play, Caluk defeated UTEP's Eggink, 6-1, 6-2, winning the first singles match and giving FIU a 2-0 lead. Grib won against Martinez reaching her 14^th win of the season and the eighth in dual matches.  Bozinovic, clinched her fourth match for FIU in this season defeating Medina 6-2, 6-2. On the other courts, the Panthers did not complete their matches.
 
"I am, and we all are satisfied about this past week," FIU head coach Katarina Petrovic said. "We will use the next few days to recover our bodies and get ready for our next match against UCF. This is the time where we have to focus day-by-day to get even better."