Miami, Fla. ? The Stetson women's tennis team fell to 4-5 on the season with a 7-0 loss on the road at #44 Florida International Monday afternoon. FIU is the fifth nationally ranked squad the Hatters have faced in 2008. Sophomore Valentina Galbarini took on nationally ranked individuals in both singles and doubles.
Galbarini competed well against 88th-ranked Liset Brito at #1 singles, taking five games in a 6-3, 6-2 loss. Her #1 doubles match saw her team with freshman Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) and fall 8-2 to the nation's 20th-ranked duo of Brito and Egle Petrauskaite. Purushotham and classmate Megan Jones (Miramar, Fla.) were the only Hatters to win sets in the singles matches as Jones battled her opponent to a third-set tiebreaker before losing.
The Hatters return to Atlantic Sun action at home Thursday afternoon to take on North Florida at 3:30 p.m. in the second half of a doubleheader at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. The 75th-ranked Stetson men's team also faces UNF at 12 p.m.
