MIAMI (March 31, 2019) -  The FIU women's tennis team fell to No. 21 UCF, 5-2 on Sunday afternoon. The loss snaps FIU's nine-match winning streak.

With the loss, FIU falls to 10-5 on the year, while UCF improves to 18-2.

In the final home match of the 2018-19 campaign FIU honored senior Maryna Vekslers' four years of accomplishments. Following the Senior Day celebration the Panthers opened up the afternoon with doubles play.

Veksler and freshman Paulina Bakaite were the first to finish on court three, dropping a 6-3 decision to the Knights. The Panther-duos on courts one and two chased the Knights, both narrowing point deficits in late rallies. However, sophomore Sandra Bozinovic and junior Maria Turrillo, were unable to capitalize and dropped the match 6-4. UCF clinched the doubles point, giving them an early 1-0 lead before heading into singles play. 

Bozinovic later picked up a point in a straight-set victory over UCF. The 6-0, 6-0 win evened the score at 1-1 for a moment. Turrillo dropped her match to the Knights, 6-3, 6-0, while Veksler closed out her home campaign with a frustrating 6-2, 6-2 loss. With a 3-1 advantage, UCF rolled out a few more points after Umarova and Bakaite both fell to their opponents.

In the final match of the day, Akbas fought hard in a three-set battle that secured another point for the Panthers. After winning the first set in the tie-breaker, she dropped the second set but answered back with the win 7-6(5), 1-6, 1-0(6).

The 5-2 loss caps a month-long homestand. The Panthers will travel to Houston, Texas for their next pair of matches. 

Click here for full results. 

UP NEXT 
The Panthers will head to Houston to take on USF on Saturday, April 6. Following the match, FIU will cap regular-season play against Rice on Sunday, April 7.

SOCIAL MEDIA 
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUwomenstennis on Instagram and @FIUWTennis on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram