DELAND, Fla. - After dropping the doubles point, the Stetson University women's tennis team battled back against nationally-ranked Florida Gulf Coast and had a chance to register the upset. However, the 74th-ranked Eagles held on for a hard-fought 4-3 win to hand the Hatters their first home loss of the year, Friday afternoon at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the singles, the Hatters quickly took a 2-1 lead when No. 1 Nadejda Maslova (6-1, 6-4) and No. 3 Cheri Darley (6-2, 6-4) finished off their opponents in straight sets. Maslova improved to 9-2 at flight 1, while Darley won her ninth straight match and is now 12-1 overall and 7-0 at flight 3.

FGCU (10-5, 3-0 ASUN) reclaimed its advantage by taking No. 6 and then No. 2, where Anais Gabriel, who lost her first set, forced a tiebreak in the second, but fell 7-3.

Both flights 4 and 5 went three sets, with Stetson's Noa Cohen battling back from a first set loss (4-6) to take the final two 6-3, 6-4 and tie the team match at 3-3. With the win, Cohen remained unbeaten on the season at 13-0.

The match then came down to flight 4. Alanna DiFrancesco, who won the first set in a tiebreak (11-9), dropped the second 4-6. The Eagles' Fanny Norin was able to take the third set, 7-5, and claim the win for FGCU. It was DiFrancesco's first loss of the season (13-1) and the team's first loss at the flight all year.

Stetson (13-2, 1-1 ASUN) will be back in action on Sunday when Kennesaw State comes to town. The Hatters and Owls will face off at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center starting at 10 am.
 

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About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF).

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