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Women’s tennis falls to UNF in Championship Final

EN+Stock+Photo+%2F%2F+Despite+rain+cancellations%2C+womens+tennis+picked+up+a+trio+of+singles+wins+and+one+doubles+win+in+the+teams+first+outing+of+their+fall+season.+
EN Stock Photo // Despite rain cancellations, women’s tennis picked up a trio of singles wins and one doubles win in the teams first outing of their fall season.

By Jordyn Matez
Sports Editor
The FGCU women’s tennis team spent last weekend fighting for a shot at the ASUN championship title and ultimately fell short by a single point conceding to UNF in the final game on Saturday.
The Eagles, who were seeded fourth in the tournament, started the weekend with a 4-0 sweep of Stetson to breeze through the quarterfinals.
Both pairs of doubles had no trouble giving FGCU a 1-0 start, with each pair winning their matches 6-2.
This set up singles players Julia Ascua and Maja Ornberg with the opportunity to widen FGCU’s lead with Ascua winning her matches 6-3, 6-1 and Ornberg connecting her 12th overall win on the top court with a 6-2, 6-4 final score.
Patricia Villar fought for the winning point in her late singles match, and did just that after tying the second set, pulling away with a 6-3 final score.
The semifinals against Liberty proved to be more of a challenge, forcing the Birds to outlast an 0-3 deficit going into the second half of the day. Unfortunately for the Flames, the Eagles completed a historic comeback in singles play to take the overall match 4-3.
Bridget Forster got the momentum going after dropping her first set, defeating her opponent 7-6 and 6-3 in the second two sets to give FGCU their first point of the day.
Then it was up to Villar, Ornberg and Sofia Perez to clinch their matches as well. All three players did without much trouble, allowing the Eagles to advance to the conference finals.
The final match came down to a tie that left FGCU’s top player, Ornberg, with the feat of securing a win. Though she dropped the first set 7-5, Ornberg fought back and claimed a 7-6 second set win to force a tiebreaker match, which she would come to lose 6-3.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our ladies competed over these last three matches,” said FGCU head coach Courtney Vernon. “They never gave up and believed in each other all the way to the last point. It’s a very special group, especially for the seniors who played their last matches today. I’m thankful for this team and everyone who has supported us all season.”
This championship appearance marked FGCU’s fourth in the last five years.

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