Spartanburg, S.C. - The Stetson women's tennis team (15-5, 7-2 Atlantic Sun) claimed its sixth consecutive victory Thursday morning with a 5-2 win at A-Sun rival USC Upstate (11-4, 5-3 A-Sun). Senior Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla.) and junior Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) were double winners for the Hatters.
The Hatters took the doubles point quickly with 8-0 and 8-2 wins from the Purushotham/Shannon Gunning (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Atkinson/Katherine Nowicki (Jacksonville, Fla.) pairings, respectively. Unfortunately, Stetson's nationally 57th-ranked duo of senior Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) and freshman Carolina de los Santos (Montevideo, Uruguay) was upset 8-5 by Francisca Valderrama and Monica Pezzotti in the final doubles match.
Galbarini and de los Santos got their revenge against the Spartans on the singles courts, routing Valderrama and Pezzotti, respectively, in straight sets (6-4, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-2). Galbarini's victory clinched the match for the Hatters. Atkinson swept Carolina Bello 6-1, 6-4 at #3 singles while Purushotham defeated USC Upstate's Simona Cacciuttolo 7-5, 6-2 at the #4 slot.
Stetson concludes the Atlantic Sun Conference portion of its schedule tomorrow at Campbell. The match begins at 10 a.m. in Buies Creek, N.C.
