Written by Zoe Chin/Sports Director
Despite having a rough start to their season, the FIU tennis team is slowly getting back on their feet.
With the win over FAU, they are at 2-4 with hopes of getting a win on FIU territory after they play North Florida University on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m.
The Panthers made a comeback with a win against Florida Atlantic University (4-1) on the Owls’ territory on Friday, Feb. 22.
This is the team’s first conference win and second win of the season after losing a home game to Texas Tech University on Sunday, Feb. 10.
“Today we were all on the same page and everyone came out here to fight,” said head coach Katarina Petrovic in an interview with Sports Media.
The freshman duo Kamila Umarova and Basak Akbas won their doubles match against FAU players Jemi Aguilar and Natalia Boltinskaya in 6-4 game.
Akbas has an 8-2 overall singles record with a win streak of two.
The Panthers’ lead was extended when veteran player Maryna Veksler and freshman Paulina Bakaite beat FAU players Martina Kudelova and May Kimhi.
In their doubles game, the pair beat the Owls in a 7-5 match.
Veksler has 1-2 doubles record, having lost two doubles game. As a single player, the senior is 6-4 with a win streak of one.
Her freshman doubles partner Bakaite has a 1-3 doubles record and a 2-3 singles record.
While the doubles teams had success in their matches. The single players had both succes and failure.
Junior Maria Turillo lost to FAU Ja’Cara Gillis in a 3-6 and 1-6 match. With the loss, FAU was able to score one game against FIU.
The Panthers didn’t back down and Umarova battled back against the Owls to score a win again FAU Barbora Palacatova.
Bakaite and Kimhi met again one-on-one in their singles match. Kimhi looking to score a win for FAU and Bakaite aiming to get the win for the Panthers.
In the end, the Panthers won the entire match against FAU after Bakaite defeated Kimhi in a 6-4,6-4 match.
The team has made the move to fix their overall record, having lost the first three games of the season and then losing again on home territory.
For a recap and pictures of the FIU versus North Florida tennis game, visit www.PantherNOW.com.
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