FORT MYERS, Fla. - After dropping the doubles point at the start of its semifinal ASUN Championship contest to six-time defending ASUN champion North Florida, Saturday morning at the FGCU Tennis Complex, the Stetson University women's tennis team regrouped, battled, and then completed its comeback by downing the Ospreys, 4-3, to advance to its sixth ASUN Championship title dual match in school history.

The Hatters, the two seed in the tournament, will now face fourth-seeded Liberty on Sunday morning at 10 am, a contest that can be seen live on ESPN+. The Flames defeated top-seed Florida Gulf Coast, 4-0, to advance to their first-ever ASUN Championship match. In the regular season meeting, just last Saturday, Stetson beat Liberty, 4-3, which secured the Hatters share of the regular-season ASUN title.

"We just continue, as a team, to push ourselves," Stetson head women's tennis coach Travis Sandlant said. "The belief that this group is producing is remarkable. Noa Cohen's clinching match today showed the fight and character a captain should display. We know tomorrow is going to be another battle, like today, and the whole team will be tested again. We look forward to the challenge."

North Florida (15-9) started the day strong, winning the doubles point thanks to taking matches on Court 1 and 3, and were actually winning on 2 before that one went unfinished. The Ospreys then took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 after wins on Court 6 and 1.

Stetson (21-2), who is on an eight-match winning streak, got its first point on the board from Cheri Darley, who completed her straight set win 6-3, 6-3 on Court 3 for her 17th straight victory and improved to 20-1 on the season.

Trailing 3-1, the Hatters roared back with a pair of wins on Court 4 and 2 just minutes apart to tie the team score. Alanna DiFrancesco needed a third set to win her team-leading 21st match of the season, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0, which was followed two minutes later by Anias Gabriel posting a straight set win, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, for her 15th victory of the year.

It would all came down to Court 5, where Cohen was locked into a three-set battle with Anslee Long. Long won the first 6-0, Cohen took the second, 6-3, and the two battled back-and-fourth in set three that was decided in the tiebreaker. Tied at 1-1, Cohen rattled off three straight points and won the last three to claim the third set 7-6 (7-2), win her 20th match of the year and advance the Hatters to Sunday's final.

Stetson's 21 wins, already a school record, are the second most ever in a single season in ASUN history, trailing only ETSU's 23 during the 2006 season. The Hatters were last in the title match in 2018, falling to North Florida 4-1, and also appeared in the finals in 2014, 2009, 2006 and 2005. Stetson won three ASUN championships in 1986, 1987 and 1989 and finished second in 1990 when the title was determined by a points system.
 

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