Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DELAND, Fla. -- Both Stetson Tennis teams took a season-opening win in the 2023 openers as part of a Women's-then-Men's doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
 
The women's tennis team took a win over Saint Leo's University 4-2. To start Stetson took the doubles with Alanna DiFrancesco & Anais Gabriel defeating Saint Leo's Claudia Borbon Roca and Luzia Obermeier 6-1 on court 1 with Noa Cohen and Tess Menten defeating Jade Bellegy & Camila Keller 6-3 to clinch the point.

"Both teams had to battle the elements but the main thing we were battling today is we needed some players to step up in new positions and get the job done," women's team head coach Travis Sandlant said "I think those players stepped up and did that. It's always good to start the year 1-0. We are pretty confident in doubles, today we had new pairings so it's good that we can have new teams and still get the job done. In singles we started off pretty strong and to their [Saint Leo] credit, they fought back, we could have maybe won it a bit easier but at the end of the day we still needed to stay focused and get the job done. We needed a team effort today and that's what we got; everyone did their part."
 
Stetson women's tennis remained in the lead with Cheri Darley defeating Claudia Borbon Roca 6-4, 6-3 on court 2 and Noa Coohen defeating Kamilya Shailina 6-4,1-6, 6-2 on Court 4. Magda Hedrzak beat Camila Keller 6-2, 6-2. Stetson fell short in two singles with Marta Vicens Miquel defeating Alanna DiFrancesco 6-3, 6-3 and Jade Bellegy defeating Tess Menten, 6-3, 6-4.

"I think overall as a team we worked very hard," sophomore Cheri Darley said "We worked hard on one percenters like cheering, working well as a team, especially with two new girls. We all did very well overall. I played well but started off a little rough. Tess, playing as six, did very well. She may have been down but stuck in the game and still tried to get as many games as possible."
 
Stetson Men's Tennis also took a massive win over Florida Southern 6-1. To start Stetson took the lead with Haris Eminefendic/Juan Jose Rodriguez defeating Inaki Braun Simo/ Alex Fascio of Florida Southern 6-3 on court 2 and Sami Ozzzori/ Akexandra Hillhouse defeating Ryan Rajakar/ Mario Garoz 6-4 on court 3. Marc Saura and Lucas Olivier were leading their opponents on Court 1 by a score of 5-3 but did not finish due to the point being clinched.

"It was a fun match to be honest," men's tennis head coach Christophe Noblet said "A bunch of guys were playing with their Stetson Jersey for the first time. Juan Jose [Rodriguez], Lucas [Olivier] even though they played in the fall with us before that was their first big match with us. [With] Bendix [Schroeder] and Marc [Saura], basically half the lineup was new to the environment and responded well. We have talked about trying to get better through the Spring, and now we have data to use to improve. There were points that were very good and things that we are rusty on, and we're going to try to get better one match at a time. This is a fun group, they battles their way through, they enjoyed it and we enjoy it with them. Very proud of Marc, you can tell he is made for college tennis. He is enjoying it, he has transitioned so well to Stetson, he's been here barely two weeks and he is going to do great things and enjoying the involvement."
 
The Hatters remained in the lead with Lucas Olivier deating Chris Fok Kow, 6-4, 7-5 on court 1 with Marc Saura defeating Inaki Braun Simo 6-1, 6-3 on court 2. On court 3, Juan Jose Rodriguez battled and eventually took Mario Garoz down 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. Haris Eminefendic picked up a win over Alex Fascio 6-3, 6-2 on court 4, as Sami Ozzor def. John Gidefjord  6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 1-0 (1) won in a tiebreaker set after the match was clinched on court 5. Stetson only lost one point with Florida Southern's Matteo Deggi defeating Bendix Schroeder 6-3, 6-3.

"It was tough conditions, very cold, windy and kind of dark, but battled through; I was the stronger guy in the end and took the win," men's team captain Sami Ozzor said

"For sure Marc [Saura]," Ozzor said about who impressed him in today's match "It was his first match with us and he's like a star. We're happy to have him and to see what else he's going to do."
 
Both teams will remain in DeLand to take on opponents at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center next Friday. The Stetson Women will take on Mercer University at 11 a.m. The Stetson Men will face Georgia State University at 3 p.m. The matches will be streamed on Facebook live and live stats will be available on gohatters.com