PENSACOLA, Fla. - The UWF women's tennis team (1-1, 1-0 GSC) overcame an early setback in doubles to pull victory out of the fire and open its conference slate with a 5-2 win over Lee (2-1, 1-1 GSC), the Argos' first of 2024, at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex on Saturday.
UWF exacted revenge on the Flames for a 4-3 defeat at Cleveland, Tenn., last season, the first loss in the series for the Argos.
Ashleigh Simes and Maria Duarte topped
Carlota Verdu and
Manuela Dejean 6-2 to begin doubles before
Nathalia Mossambani and
Luiza Daud drew one back with a 6-3 win over Lizza Gnilozubova and Hayden Smith. In the No. 2 pairing,
Aline Midori Da Silva and
Guadalupe Martinez fought hard but could not overcome Maria Aguilo and Kanna Kobayakawa, as Lee took the final matchup 6-4. The Flames didn't stop there, as Lee went up 2-0 as Simes won the first singles match 6-1, 6-2 over Verdu.
From there, however, the Argos flipped the script, as Daud defeated Smith 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 6 matchup and
Jenna Svatos claimed a tight first set at No. 5 on the way to taking down Gnilozubova 7-5, 6-1. Midori Da Silva, at the No. 2 position, won in three over Aguilo 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
Holding onto a narrow 3-2 lead, this one was coming down to the wire as Mossambani dropped her first set 6-1 to Duarte, who won the tiebreaking match last year to top UWF. Mossambani weathered the storm, however, pulling out 7-5 and 6-4 wins in the last two sets to clinch this one for the Blue and Green. Martinez then removed any lingering doubt after a 6-4 loss in Set 1 by taking a tight Set 2 7-5 just after Mossambani finished the job in the next court and ran away with the final set 6-1.
"The girls had to dig deep today to come out with the victory," Coach
Derrick Racine said after the match. "Lee played some good solid doubles and was able to hold off our girls to take the doubles point. With singles, at the beginning of the match, the momentum was with Lee, but starting in the second set we were able to turn the momentum on a few key matches. The girls fought hard and we won three matches all in three sets, which is a great testament to our girls' fight and perseverance. This team has a lot of heart and they showed that today, coming from behind to beat a very good Lee team."
The Argos will look to improve to 2-0 in GSC play next week as they travel to Mississippi College to take on the No. 21 Choctaws on February 28 at 1 pm.
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