DeLand, Fla. - Freshman Carolina de los Santos (Montevideo, Uruguay) earned a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 three-set victory in the final singles match of the day to carry host Stetson (1-1) to a 4-3 win over Troy (1-3) in the women's tennis home opener Saturday at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.  Sophomore Shannon Gunning (Boca Raton, Fla.) and junior Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) were double winners for the Hatters.

Troy won two of three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead into the singles matches, where Purushotham and Gunning each made short work of Lauren Simpson and Emma Smith, respectively, to put the Hatters ahead 2-1.  Senior Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) defeated Karoline Rymel 6-2, 6-4 at the top of the lineup to extend the lead to 3-1; however each of the next two matches ended in favor of the Trojans, setting the stage for the #3 singles match between de los Santos and Troy's Leonie Guijt.  The Hatter rookie rallied from a set down to defeat her Trojan foe and give the win to Stetson.

"Carolina put on a calm, determined effort to bring us the win," Head Coach Sasha Schmid said.  "I'm proud of the fight we showed after losing a very close doubles point as well as playing in extremely windy conditions all day."

Stetson hosts Georgia Southern at 12 p.m. Sunday in its next outing at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.