The Stetson women's tennis team (5-4) recorded its third
sweep of the season, defeating Cleveland State (6-7) by a score of 7-0 on
Tuesday evening at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
The Hatters made quick work of the Vikings, losing only one
set on the night. All three sets of
doubles pairs won to give Stetson the early 1-0 lead. Junior Diana Bukajeva and senior Jen Miller
started it off with an 8-1 win, before senior Sara Lazarevic and freshman
Andrea Crespo clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory. Junior Lindsey Cable and freshman Eveline
Lepinay added an 8-5 win for good measure.
Five of the six singles matches ended in two sets on
Tuesday. Miller defeated Maria Lazaris
6-3, 6-1 at the number five position to make it 2-0 in favor of the
Hatters. Crespo then topped Mathilde
Orange 6-2, 6-1 to give Stetson a 3-0 advantage over the Vikings.
Bukajeva, who won her 13th straight singles match
on the night, won 6-3, 6-3 against Alex Power to clinch the victory for the
Hatters. Moments later, Lazarevic
completed her match, winning 6-4, 6-1 against Alex Bush.
After Cable defeated Kara Sherwood 6-2, 6-4 at the number
four position, Lepinay secured the sweep for Stetson, topping Nicole Janek 10-3
in the tie-breaker after splitting the first two sets 6-3, 3-6.
"The ladies played their best match of the year today,"
Director of Tennis Pierre Pilote said. "Cleveland State has an excellent
team. As a matter of fact, they lost to
last year's A-Sun Champions UNF 4-3 yesterday."
"Our four previous matches were played in very difficult
weather conditions," Pilote continued. "It was great to see our ladies finally
able to hit the balls the way that they are capable off."
Stetson will now prepare for conference play, beginning
Thursday, March 14 against Northern Kentucky.
The Hatters and the Norse are scheduled to start at noon at the Mandy
Stoll Tennis Center.
