Tennis defeats Brown on senior day

By: Spencer Manley / Staff Writer
Facing a tough foe in their last home match of the season, the Golden Panthers’ outgoing senior class stepped up to lead FIU to a 4-3 win over No. 66 ranked Brown on March 31.
Mariana Muci Torres, a sophomore, was the clincher for the match.
She defeated her opponent in three sets (2-6, 7-5, 6-4) after being down 4-1 in the final set.
“I had to win it,” said Torres following her clincher. “I had to pull it off for the team.”
Torres’ clutch victory came following Liset Brito’s 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7 in tiebreak) much needed win in singles competition.
“I’m exhausted,” said Melissa Applebaum, who celebrated her 30th career victory in her second year as FIU head coach. “This match was huge for the girls.”
The seniors on the team, Maria Dolores Pazo, Priscilla Castillo, and Maria Jose Vallasciani were honored by their teammates and coach.
The Golden Panthers had just lost a disappointing match to No. 25 DePaul on March 26, just a day after the murder of FIU running back Kendall Berry.
“The circumstances going into that match were very abnormal,” Applebaum spoke of the tragedy. “I would have preferred to play that match the following day in order to give my girls time to emotionally get through what happened, but it is what it is.”
Senior Priscilla Castillo, who was swept in the DePaul match, 6-0, 6-0, made quick work of Brown’s Catherine Stewart, beating her 6-2, 6-4.
“[Brown] is a good team and their ranking does not reflect their ability,” Castillo said of her competitor. “They have beaten teams that we have lost to, so this is a good win.”
Castillo was the first to finish in singles competition on a sunny, 77-degree Miami day.
“It’s at least 10 degrees hotter on the courts, but it works out for us because [Brown] is up north and they aren’t used to this weather,” Castillo said.
Following Maria Spenceley’s loss [6-3, 7-6, 7-5] the Golden Panthers were only one singles match away from losing. Castillo watched on as the fate of the match was left to Brito and Muci, both of whom were down 4-1 in their final set.
“I was really frustrated at the time and my opponent [Cassandra Herzberg] was playing better,” said Brito. “I didn’t even know the score at the time. I was just trying to fight against myself because I was really tired.”
A very crucial call was made in the third set on a play that was originally ruled out of bounds, but was overturned in Brito’s favor.
“I saw it in, so I challenged it,” Brito said.
Following the match, the tennis squad celebrated their final home victory of the season, as well as the seniors on the squad with a cake that read “Congrats Seniors.”
The Golden Panthers will now have a week and a half off before traveling to Orlando to play UCF on April 10 at 12 p.m.
The match against the Knights will be their final one of the season, after which they will defend their Sun Belt title from last year in the Sun Belt Conference Championships later in the month.