FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle duo of Kristina Marova and Hui-I Huang advanced to the main draw of the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships on Wednesday afternoon. The Eagle pair won the play-in game against a familiar foe as they topped St. Thomas' Tetiana Kovalska and Gabriella Bongiovanni in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
 
In the first frame, the Eagles jumped out to an early lead and had a chance to go up 5-2, but St. Thomas fought back to make it 5-4. With Kovalska serving, the ERAU team fell behind 40-0, but rallied to break the St. Thomas senior and take the set 6-4.
 
The second set saw the Eagles go ahead 4-2, but following a controversial call by the official, the Bobcats pulled within one to make it 4-3. The Eagles broke Kovalska again but were broken in the next service game to make the score 5-4 in favor of the Blue and Gold. Bongiovanni started the next service game and staked STU to a 30-0 advantage, but once again, the Eagle tandem mounted a rally and registered another break to win the match, 6-4.
 
The Eagles' next opponent will be the third-seeded team of Kateryna Shkot and Anastasiia Baranova of Oklahoma Baptist. That match is slated for Thursday at 1:15 p.m. at the Three Oaks Tennis Center.