DeLand, Fla. - Visiting North Florida (8-1,2-0 Atlantic Sun) handed the Stetson women's tennis team (7-3, 2-1 A-Sun) its first conference loss on Saturday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Sophomore Shannon Gunning (Boca Raton, Fla.) was a double winner for the Hatters, who fell to the Ospreys by a narrow 4-3 margin.
UNF took the doubles point and earned three straight-set singles victories to take the match from the Hatters; the Ospreys were also the only A-Sun team to beat Stetson last season as the Hatters claimed a share of the conference regular season title. Gunning teamed with junior Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) to defeat Lauren Holton and Victoria Krook 8-2 at #3 doubles before winning a 6-1, 6-3 straight-set decision over Melanie Aguirre at #5 singles.
Stetson's nationally 37th-ranked doubles duo of senior Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) and Carolina de los Santos (Montevideo, Urugay) faced a re-match with the then-ranked North Florida duo they beat in last fall's ITA Southeast Regional Championships. Round 2 went to the Ospreys, however, as Aline Berkenbrock and Raquel Castro defeated the South American tandem 8-5. De los Santos went on to beat Castro 6-3, 6-0 at #2 singles while senior Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla.) picked up the final Stetson point with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 win over Krook at the #3 slot.
The Hatters are back in action at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 when they host Eastern Kentucky at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. The Stetson and EKU men will also play Wednesday at 2 p.m.
