ORLANDO – Stetson Women's Tennis competed in two tough matches in under 24 hours, taking the win in Tampa over Hillsborough 5-2 Friday afternoon before a battle against the Knights that saw the #23 team in the country Central Florida slip by the Hatters, 4-3, early Saturday afternoon at the UTSA Tennis Center.
"Hillsborough competed extremely well today," head coach
Travis Sandlant said on Friday "They are a good solid team and the will definitely sneak up on some schools. They have good potential. It was awesome to see Lato [
Laetitia Rizk] step up today when she got an opportunity. Everyone was happy she had success today."
The home side took it to the Hatters early as HCC won the doubles point. Arina Gamretkaia and Esmee Andresen slipped past
Alanna DiFrancesco and Magda Hedrzak on court 1 7-5.
Anais Gabriel and
Noa Cohen notched a win for the Hatters on court 2, but the point was confirmed to the Hawks with Ita Habekovic and Rocio Martinez recording the win over
Cheri Darley and
Tess Menten 6-2.
Stetson bounces back in singles with Darley picking up a 6-4, 6-3 win on court 1. DiFrancesco defeated Andresen on court 2, 6-1, 7-6. Gabriel took Habekovic 6-2, 6-2 on court 3 for her second win of the day with the doubles. Hedrzak took down Camilla Mitolo 7-6, 6-2 on court 5 with
Laetitia Rizk picked up her first win of the year defeating Yoana Dudova 6-4, 6-2.
"Super proud of the effort and intensity we displayed today," Sandlant said about the UCF match "We battled so close with a top 20 team today. We know we have anotherr couple of opportunities like this coming up. If we compete like we did today we know we can come away with one of these close battles."
UCF claimed the doubles point to start the Saturday afternoon contest winning on courts 1 and 3, but Cohen and Gabriel picked up a win on court 2, 6-4, over Nandini Sharma and Sophia Biolay.
The Hatters shined in singles as Stetson took a trio of victories. DiFrancesco took the win on court 2 after a skirmish with Jantje Tilbuerger. The court two action featured a tiebreaker in the first set and because the match had been confirmed, set three tiebreaker in lieu of the full set. Gabriel took the win on court 3, 6-1, 6-4, over Noel Saidenova as the second win on the day. Her doubles partner Cohen also grabbed a win, on court 4 over Jaleesa Leslie, 6-4, 6-4. Darley fought with the ITA #47 player in the country Marie Mattel but ultimately fell 6-2, 6-1, on court 1. Hedzrak gave Sophia Biolay a test on court 5 but fell 6-3, 7-5 with
Laetitia Rizk falling on court 6 to Sharma 6-0, 6-3.
The preparation should help the Hatters as they will head North to the ITA National Kickoff Weekend hosted by Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Stetson will face the Bulldogs on Friday followed by either Southern California or Notre Dame on Saturday depending on Friday's results. More information, such as live stats and streaming, will be made available on gohatters.com as those details are released.
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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