DELAND, Fla. - On Friday afternoon at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center, the Stetson University women's tennis team defeated conference opponent Central Arkansas, 4-3, and with the victory clinched a spot in the upcoming 2022 ASUN Championship, a six-team tournament at the end of April in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Hatters are now 5-1 in league play, tied in the loss column with Liberty (6-1 after a win Friday, they do not play Sunday), North Florida (5-1 after win on Friday, face UCA on Sunday) and Florida Gulf Coast (4-1, play Lipscomb, Friday night, Jacksonville State, Sunday). The Bears, who entered the match with a 4-1 ASUN record fell to 4-2 and currently sit alone now in fifth place in the conference standings.

The win also improved the Stetson overall record to a 17-2 and 12-1 at home. The 17 wins are the most at the school since 2014, when that squad tied the program mark for most wins in a single season with 18. This is just the sixth time in school history the women's tennis team has won at least 17 matches in a single season (18, 1986, 2010, 2014; 17, 2006, 2011, 2022) and are the most after 19 events.

The 12 home wins are now also tied for the most ever victories in a single season at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center with the 2015 program, who finished the season 12-2 at home.

As is the case, at times, in a team tennis match, the doubles point looms large in the final outcome, and in Friday's match it did with Stetson taking it easily to start the day. Nadejda Maslova and Cheri Darley made quick work at No. 2 with a 6-1 victory and are now a team-best 11-4 this season. At No. 1 Alanna DiFrancesco and Elodie Foster turned their opponents away 6-3 to win the point and improved to 10-7 this year.

Anais Gabriel and Noa Cohen were leading their No. 3 match, 5-3, before it went unfinished, preventing them from winning their 10th straight as a pair, which would tie for the second-best streak ever at the school. They are 10-1, but during the streak, they've had three total matches they were leading go unfinished.

In singles, it was again the Flight 3, 4 and 5 players leading the way with Darley, DiFrancesco and Cohen securing the win for the Hatters with straight set victories at their respective flights.

Cohen did not lose a game en route to a 6-0, 6-0 win, improving to 17-0 this season (9-0 at No. 5). The junior's 19-match winning streak (dating back to last year) is fourth all-time in school history, with Mandy Stoll's 20-match streak in 1986 next in her sights.

Darley gave Stetson a 3-0 lead in the match with her 6-3, 6-1 victory, for her 13th straight win and an overall mark of 16-1. The freshman is 11-0 at flight 3 this season. Cohen and Darley are both 6-0 in ASUN league matches this year.

The Hatters won the match after DiFrancesco's 6-3, 6-4 victory, her 17th win of the 2022 season, as well, opposed to just one loss. During the year, Stetson is 55-1 at flights 3, 4 and 5, with those three earning 43 of those wins.

Maslova lost her match at flight 1, 11-9 in a third set tiebreaker, while Gabriel lost in three sets as well, 6-4 in the third.

Stetson returns to the court for one final match at home this Sunday. The Hatters will face North Alabama at 10 am, with Senior Day festivities taking place approximately 15 minutes before the start. Stetson will close the regular season with matches at Bellarmine (April 14) and Liberty (April 16).
 

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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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