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SAINT LEO, Fla. – The eighth-ranked UWF women's tennis team earned a strong 5-3 win over fourth-ranked Nova Southeastern Monday to advance in the NCAA South Region I Tournament at the Saint Leo Tennis Center.
UWF (23-5) handed NSU (16-8) its fourth-consecutive loss to a top-10 team in reaching the regional final. UWF will face top seeded and No. 2 Saint Leo at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight today," UWF head coach
Derrick Racine said. "We started off in doubles really well. Our No. 1 team played flawless and then in singles, I knew Nina would have a very tough match but she took care of business against a tough opponent. Sarai got a nice win and then it came down to Heather's match and its always a grind with her but she puled it out in the end."
The Argonauts picked up two doubles wins with near perfect performances at Nos. 1 and 3.
Paula Lopez and
Nina Bubelova cruised to an 8-1 win at the top spot, while
Sarai Flores and
Valeria Mantilla earned an equally impressive 8-1 victory at the third spot, giving UWF a 2-1 lead.
Needing just three singles points to advance, UWF got quick decisions in the middle of the ladder from Bubelova and Flores. Bubelova took down 19th-ranked Sabrina Kierberg, 6-4, 6-1 before Flores followed shortly thereafter at the fourth position with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Carlee Rizzolo.
The Sharks put some pressure on the Argos with wins at the top two positions as
Katarina Dikosavljevic dropped a match to No. 2 Klaudia Boczova and Lopez slipping up against No. 28 Petra Jurova, pulling to within 4-3.
But UWF closed it out at the No. 6 position when
Heather Mixon – the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year – finished off Irina Constantinide, 6-1, 6-3.
"It feels amazing to get the win today," Mixon said. "All the hard work is paying off and it came together today. I just tried to fight for every point to finish it out and finish strong."
The Argonauts will try to knock off the Lions for the first time at the Saint Leo Tennis Center this season. SLU is 10-0 at home, including a 6-3 win over UWF on March 15.
