DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Following a close to two-week lay-off,
the Embry-Riddle women's tennis team returned to action on Tuesday to top NCAA
Division II No. 11 Florida Southern 6-3. The decision marked ERAU's first win
over the Lady Moccasins (12-4) since 2000 and improved the second-ranked Eagles'
overall record to 16-3 on the year.
An injury to the Eagles' regular No. 1 singles player, Yi Ching Chen resulted in an adjustment to the Eagle lineup. Playing in their
accustomed spot of No. 3 in the doubles lineup, Kristina Márová and Paolo
Montero were the first to complete their contest, downing Crystal Copeland and
Pamela Paradis 8-3. Rocío Frej Vitallé and Ekaterina Kamendova easily adjusted
to their new role at the top of the doubles lineup as they easily dispatched
Agnes Rozite and Sabine Goge. Playing together for the first time this season, the
Swedish duo of Josefine Ström and Caroline Nilsson registered their first
doubles win of the season, downing Joalis Dominguez and Veronika Kovacikova 8-4
to give the Eagles 3-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Playing at No. 6 singles, Montero was the first to finish
her match, registering her third shutout of the year with a 6-0, 6-0 decision
against Paradis. The Blue and Gold extended its advantage to 5-0 when Caroline Nilsson defeated Copeland 6-3, 6-1 to score the clincher. The Eagles' sixth
point came at the top singles spot where NAIA No. 8 Kamendova bested NCAA II
No. 31 Rozite 6-2, 6-4.
The Lady Moccasins managed to get three points back at the second,
third and fourth spots, with two of those three matches going to three sets. At
No. 4 singles, Dominguez topped Ström 6-2, 6-1. After taking the first set 6-2,
Frej Vitallé fell by the same margin in the second and took a 5-3 lead in the
third, but Goge was able to battle back and won the match at No. 2 singles with
a 7-5 win. Márová also won her first set 7-6 (7-4) at the third position, but the
next two stanzas went to Kovacikova 6-3, 10-3.
The Eagles will be back on the courts at 3:30 p.m. on
Wednesday when they wrap up play in The Sun Conference against Webber
International.
