After picking up their first win of the season over Barry on Feb. 8, the FGCU women’s tennis team won their second straight match with a 4-3 victory over the Air Force Academy Falcons on Feb. 16.
Both teams came into this matchup with 1-4 records. However, the match did not start off well for the Eagles with the doubles point at stake.
On all three courts for the doubles rounds, the Eagles started out competitive as all the sets were tied 4-4 at one point. However, the Falcons took off late and won all three doubles sets 6-4, 7-5 and 6-4 as Air Force earned the doubles point.
With the Falcons taking an early 1-0 lead, both teams moved on to the singles sets. FGCU’s players were able to regain their confidence in singles and respond.
Junior Isabella Colmenares started her first set strong as she jumped out to a 5-0 lead, winning 6-1. Her second singles set also resulted in a 6-1 victory, this time after an early 1-1 tie.
On another court, sophomore Amelia Kopel shut out her opponent 6-0 in her first singles set. Her second set also went well as she earned a 6-2 win. Kopel was the only Eagle that played singles but did not play in the doubles sets as junior Gabriela Macias participated in doubles.
Graduate student Ida Ferding continued the early lead for FGCU as an initial 4-0 lead gave her a 6-1 win in the first set and a 6-3 win in the second set, after a 3-3 tie at the start gave the Eagles their third point of the match.
Senior Jordana Ossa had another dominant showing on her court and won her sets 6-3 and 6-2. Her victory also gave the Eagles the fourth point they needed to clinch the match. The final score was 4-3 FGCU in their match win.
Initially, losing the doubles point looked to be a disadvantage for the Eagles but FGCU was undeterred as they made sure the Falcons would not hold on to the lead for long in their come from behind victory.
“It is always tough when you lose the doubles point because you are already down 1-0 and the other team has a great advantage,” Ossa said. “So we just told ourselves to keep the energy up, play as a team and we did everything and that is why we came out with a win.”
With the win over the Falcons for their second win in a row, the Eagles hope to continue this momentum as they have several upcoming road matches.
“We are excited to get out of here and continue our winning streak,” Ossa said. “We started off with a few Ls, but we got a win streak now, so we are excited to see how it goes.”
The Eagles will hit the road for the next two weeks starting with ASUN opponent Bellarmine on Feb. 21. The Eagles will be back home on March 2 when they play the Miami University RedHawks. Now with a 2-4 record, optimism is starting to flow through the Eagles.
“I think we are just gonna build off of this and grow and our energy is going to get better,” Ossa said. “We are gonna be louder and we are gonna just keep supporting each other and that is what is gonna help us get to the top. I am proud of my team.”
