MIAMI (April 5, 2019) – The FIU women's tennis team heads to Houston, Texas for a pair of matches to close out the regular season, as the Panthers take on USF on Saturday, April 6 and Rice on Sunday, April 7.
The Panthers (10-5 overall, 4-0 C-USA) will take on the Bulls (10-7 overall, 4-0 American) at the George Brown Tennis Center on Rice's campus prior to closing out the regular season against the Owls (10-7, 0-0 C-USA) the following day.
FIU vs. USF
Both teams are undefeated in their respective conferences entering Saturday's out-of-state showdown, with the Bulls on a four-match winning streak after blanking Maryland 7-0 in their most recent outing. The Panthers and Bulls have met on the court 22 times, with the Bulls holding a 13-9 advantage in the all-time series. FIU last met USF in 2018, as the Panthers earned a 4-0 victory over the Bulls on April 13 at home.
FIU vs. Rice
Sunday's meeting will be Rice's first C-USA match of the season, while it will be FIU fifth on the year. The Panthers and Owls last met at the 2018 C-USA Championship, with FIU taking down its foe, 4-3, to claim the conference crown. With the win, the Panthers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and prevented the Owls from claiming their sixth-straight league title. Rice holds a 4-1 advantage over FIU all-time on the tennis court.
2017-18 IN REVIEW
The 2017-18 season was the year of many firsts, including the first C-USA title program history after defeating Rice, 4-3. The Panthers won 17 matches and finished ranked No. 41 in the ITA rankings, the highest final ITA ranking since 2009, and have now ranked in the top 50 and earned at least 17 wins in back-to-back seasons. FIU did not lose any home matches during the season and swept all six C-USA opponents to tally a winning percentage of .850. The Panthers earned their first NCAA berth since 2011 and just their ninth in program history, while three Panthers were selected to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships.
WHAT'S NEW?
The Panthers welcome a talented crop of freshmen, Basak Akbas (Istanbul, Turkey) Paulina Bakaite (Vilnius, Lithuania), Mariia Solnyshkina (Kemerovo, Russia) and Kamila Umarova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) with each bringing an ITF ranking in singles play to FIU, as the group shows signs of being up-and-comers on the roster.
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers dropped their first match since Feb. 10 after losing a 5-2 decision to No. 21 UCF on Sunday, March 31. The loss for FIU snapped a nine-match winning streak.
UP NEXT
After going head-to-head with USF and Rice, the Panthers will have 10-days to prepare for the C-USA Championships as FIU returns to Houston on April 18.
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.
