MIAMI (March 11, 2019) - The FIU women's tennis team opened the week with a win over Idaho on Monday, as the Panthers earned their eighth-straight victory of season. 

Along with the eight-match win streak, the Panthers (9-4 overall, 4-0 C-USA) improved their home mark to 7-1 on the year after blanking the Idaho Vandals (8-4) by a 7-0 decision. 

"We are in a groove right now," said Head Coach Katarina Petrovic, "The girls are focused and playing exactly how they need to be. The hard work is really starting to pay off." 

FIU entered the competition this afternoon with an advantage. Idaho, with only four players on the roster gave up two points to FIU before action began on the courts. In singles play, freshman Paulina Bakaite and junior Maria Turrillo were the first to register wins by default. The doubles duo of senior Maryna Veksler and freshman Paulina Bakaite were awarded one of the victories as well and Sophomore Sandra Bozinovic and Turrillo clinched the doubles point to send the score up 3-0 prior to entering singles action.

Although Idaho put up a fight, the Vandals were no match for the pair that has now clinched their third-straight doubles point. Since being partnered together on Feb. 10, the Bozinovic-Turrillo duo has only dropped one match and maintain a 6-1 record and are currently on a four game winning streak after posting a 6-4 win on the court this afternoon. 

Bozinovic clinched the fourth point when she defeated her opponent 6-4, 6-0. Even with the win, FIU continued to work after Idaho opted to play out the rest of the matches and they picked up  more points. 

Freshman Basak Akbas would go on to seal her victory against the Vandals in a hard fought 6-2, 6-0 triumph. Followed by a win from Freshman Kamila Umarova who bested her opponent 6-1, 6-1. After some nail bitting action on court one, Veksler worked out of the deficit in her first set (4-6) and won the last two (6-2, 10-7) for the seventh point of the day. 

"The weather conditions were rough, but I like what I saw from the team. Even with the advantage points they worked to blank Idaho and played hard," said Petrovic. 

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UP NEXT
The FIU will host Boston University on Wednesday March 13. First serve scheduled for 1 p.m.

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