MIAMI (Jan. 12, 2019) – The FIU women's tennis team wrapped up their two-day Invitational against Iowa State and Wisconsin on Saturday.
The Panthers were 7-12 overall, throughout the two-day event which began at 9 a.m on Friday Jan. 11.
"We are a very young team, so we are taking it day by day," head coach
Katarina Petrovic said after evaluating the performance she saw this weekend. Focusing on strategy and team spirit, a hopeful Petrovic is determined to have a repeat of last season.
Securing the lone doubles victory on day one, the freshman in
Basak Akbas and
Kamila Umarova took down Iowa States' Margarita Timakova and Ekaterina Grib, 6-3. In singles play, Umarova would go on to defeat Wisconsins' Anna Makarova, 6-4, 6-0.
Day two opened up on a better note for the Panthers, notching a 2-1 mark in doubles play.
Umarova, partnered with senior
Maryna Veksler, took down the Badgers' duo of Keberle and Ava Markham, 6-1. The freshman duo of Akbas and
Paulina Bakaite secured the second doubles victory over Maryann Rompf and Melissa Pick, 6-1.
In singles action, FIU posted a 3-3 record for the day.
Umarova, bolstered a fourth-straight victory over ISUs' Maty Cancini, 6-1,6-0. The rookie was the winningest Panther throughout the weekend. Defeating two of her singles opponents and assisting both of her doubles partners in fighting off opponents.
"Kamila's hard work at practice transfers to the court when she is competing. She is improving every day," Petrovic said.
Veksler followed the lead and defeated Regina Espindola , 6-2, 6-0. After a long three-set match, Akbas sealed the deal with a win over Annabella Bonadonna, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
For full day one results click
here, for day two click
here.
The Panthers are back in action on Jan. 26 when they travel to Los Angeles for the ITA Kick-off. Action is set to begin at 9 a.m. PT. FIU will first face Loyola Marymount University at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
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