PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida women's tennis (9-5, 4-2 GSC) put up another productive week, bouncing back from a road GSC loss to Lee with a pair of upset wins over opponents from the Peach Belt Conference, the former on the road and the latter back at home.
No. 25 Lee 4, No. 30 UWF 3
The Argos got off to a great start in Cleveland, Tenn., on Monday by sweeping doubles.
Sandra Recuenco and
Carlota Verdu, the No. 10 doubles duo in all of DII, took down the 35th-ranked pairing of Ashleigh Simes and Aliyah Dywer at the top of the lineup 6-4 to seal the win after
Aline Midori Da Silva and
Guadalupe Martinez won 6-2 on court three and
Luiza Daud and
Nathalia Mossambani followed with a 6-3 final. The Flames (8-0, 2-0 GSC) equalized at No. 1 singles as Simes, the top-ranked singles player in the nation, beat Verdu 6-2, 6-2. The teams traded points on the next two courts in two-set contests with a tiebreaker for each, as Midori Da Silva won her matchup 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. One court over, Martinez won in similar fashion 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) to give her team a 3-2 lead, but Lee responded in the fifth matchup. It came down to court six, where
Giuliana Sacco made a valiant push but fell just shy 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8).
No. 30 UWF 4, No. 7 North Georgia 3
The next day in Dahlonega, Ga., against the top-10 Nighthawks (9-5), UWF took two of three in doubles as Martinez and Midori Da Silva won 6-0 on court three and Recuenco and Verdu clinched after a court two UNG win with a 6-4 final. Midori Da Silva made the score 2-0 with a win on court three and Martinez followed on the next court down. The hosts got those two points back on courts one and five and Carolina Reis tied the match on court six with a 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9) win over Daud. It came down to court two, and Recuenco delivered in a huge way. With two tiebreakers, she came out on top 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and clinched a huge upset win for the Argos.
No. 30 UWF 5, No. 24 Columbus State 2
Back at Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex on Thursday afternoon against the Cougars (6-4), Daud and Mossambani got things started on court two with a 6-4 win over Laura Pesickova and Annie Adams. One court up, Recuenco and Verdu clinched the point early with a 7-5 win over the No. 25 doubles team in DII in Nikoline Gullacksen and Mariana Ramirez. Sofia Lauretti tied the match on court five of singles in a two-set win over Daud, but Midori Da Silva and Martinez regained the Argo lead with No. 3 and No. 4 wins in rapid succession. At the top of the lineup, Verdu ultimately clinched the win with a 6-4, 6-1 takedown of Gullacksen, ranked ninth in the ITA DII Singles Rankings.
Alberte Joergensen followed on court six with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Adams for good measure.
UWF is back home for its next three matches, starting with a recently scheduled 1 pm match on Tuesday, March 25, versus Division I side Jacksonville State.
For complete information on UWF Women's Tennis, follow the team at @TennisUWF on X and @uwfwomenstennis on Instagram.
