The FGCU women’s tennis team (5-7, 1-0 A-SUN) sealed the deal with another gutsy game-winner as they defeated Lipscomb (7-10, 0-2 A-SUN) 4-3 at the Ensworth Indoor Tennis Center to open conference. Dating back to last season, the Eagles have now won sevenconsecutive regular season matches, and 12 of the last 13 in their conference slate along with their fourth straight A-SUN conference opener.
“Today was a battle,” stated head coach Courtney Vernon. “The girls did a great job adjusting to going indoors. I am proud of the fight in this team and Laura did a great job clinching the match today.”
Going into doubles, the duo of senior Julianna Curtis and junior Laura Falceto Font fell 3-6 to sophomore Madeleine Brooks and junior Viktoriya Dzyuba. The duo of freshman Madison Gallegos and junior Patricia Villar would follow with a 6-2 win over redshirt sophomore Kateryna Kandyba and junior Thabile Tshatedi before junior Julia Ascua and sophomore Maja Ornberg fell 1-6 to sophomore Denise Buberl and junior Viktoriya Dzyuba in the decider as the Bison claimed the doubles point.
Heading into singles, an unfazed Bridget Forster tied the score at 1-1 as the sophomore quickly defeated Kandyba with a pair of 6-2 decisions. Sophomore Sofia Perez would follow Forster with a 6-4, 6-0 over Tshaedi before Ornberg bounced back after falling in the first set winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 over Dzyuba, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Perez earned her fifth win of the season while Ornberg earned her ninth singles win.
The Bison would then tie the match back up after Gallegos fell 2-6, 7-5, 2-6 to Brooks and Ascua fell 7-6, 0-6, 3-6 to freshman Kateryna Popova, leaving one match left between both teams.
After a losing battle in the first set, Falceto bounced back with a close second set. Walking into the final game, Font left no doubt as the Zaragoza, Spain native claimed the third set against Burberl winning by a final of 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The Eagles will wrap up their two-match conference on the road as they face Kennesaw State next before returning home to face NJIT and USC Upstate for two straight home conference matchups.