LAKELAND, Fla. – The sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle women's tennis team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn its second win against a ranked NCAA II opponent this season, knocking off 10th-ranked Florida Southern 5-4 on the road on Thursday. Senior Kristina Marova led the Eagles to the win as she scored the clinching point at the No. 3 spot to help the Blue and Gold improve to 12-5 overall.

The Mocs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead by sweeping all three doubles points. The NCAA II 12th-ranked duo of Magda Riutort and Sabine Goge topped ERAU's top-ranked team of Marova and Hui-I Huang 8-3 at the top spot to open the scoring. Dominique Friedrichs and Pamela Paradis held off Anna Götz and Paola Montero 8-6, and Crystal Copeland and Laura Wichmann followed with an 8-4 win over Eva Vilar and Paula Ortiz Couder on court three to complete the sweep.

The Eagles got their first point of the afternoon by default as FSC was unable to fill the No. 6 singles spot. Ortiz Couder got the Eagles' second point with her 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Copeland on court five, but Goge reclaimed the two-point lead for the Mocs with her 6-3, 6 -3 win over Huang at the top spot.

The next match off the court was at No. 4 singles where Vilar downed Paradis 7-5, 6-2 and Götz pulled ERAU level by holding off Frederichs 7-5, 6-4 at the second position, leaving it up to the match at No. 3 singles to determine the outcome.

The first set saw Wichman edge Marova 7-6, 7-0 in the tiebreaker, but Marova rebounded to take the second frame 6-3 to force a decisive third set. Riding the momentum of her second-set win, Marova dispatched Wichmann 6-3 in the third to secure the win for the Eagles.

The ERAU women will be back on the road on Thursday when they close out regular season play at Sun Conference foe Warner at 2:30 p.m.


#6 Embry-Riddle 5, #10 Florida Southern 4
 Singles competition
1. #44 Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. #17 Hui-I Huang (ERAUWT13) 6-3, 6-3
2. #20 Anna Gotz (ERAUWT13) def. Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) 7-5, 6-4
3. #37 Kristina Marova (ERAUWT13) def. Laura Wichmann (FSCW) 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
4. Eva Vilar (ERAUWT13) def. Pamela Paradis (FSCW) 7-5, 6-2
5. Paula Oritz Couder (ERAUWT13) def. Crystal Copeland (FSCW) 6-1, 6-4
6. Meena Bennett (ERAUWT13) def. No player (FSCW), by default

 Doubles competition
1. #12 Magda Riutort/Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. #1 Hui-I Huang/Kristina Marova (ERAUWT13) 8-3
2. Dominique Friedrichs/Pamela Paradis (FSCW) def. Anna Gotz/Paola Montero (ERAUWT13) 8-6
3. Crystal Copeland/Laura Wichmann (FSCW) def. Eva Vilar/Paula Oritz Couder (ERAUWT13) 8-4

Match Notes:
Embry-Riddle 12-5; National ranking #6; Regional ranking #2
Florida Southern 14-4; National ranking #10; Regional ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,1,4,2,3)
Embry-Riddle ranked sixth in NAIA.