DeLand, Fla. ? College of Charleston's Holly Dowse outlasted Stetson freshman Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) in a three-set thriller to earn the clinching point for her team as the Hatters (2-4) fell to the Cougars (5-1) at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center Friday by a 4-3 score.  Three Stetson players earned straight-set singles victories.

Stetson found itself down 1-0 after the Cougars won all three doubles matches but managed to fight back to a 3-3 tie until the Dowse-Purushotham match.  Sophomore Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) blasted Chelsea Albertz 6-1, 6-2 at #1 singles and senior Anna Leonenko (Calgary, Alta.) did likewise to Keely Mulligan at #5 in a 6-3, 6-3 victory.  Sophomore Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla.) took the first set off Laura Borza 6-2 at #2 singles then held on for a 7-6 win in the second set to take the match.

Purushotham won the first set 6-2 but Dowse would rally back to take the second set 6-3.  The final set that determined the outcome of the match was a tight affair but it was Dowse and the Cougars that pulled out the win, taking the final set 7-6.

“This was definitely a heartbreaker, a very tough loss for us,” Head Coach Sasha Schmid said.  “We just have to focus on our next match back in conference play.”

The Hatters are off until Thursday when Atlantic Sun foe Gardner-Webb comes to the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center for a 12 p.m. match.  The women's match starts a doubleheader that features the Hatter men also taking on GWU at 3:30 p.m.