Jonathan Mayer / Staff Writer
The FIU Women’s Tennis Team finished off a great 2021 season with an overall record of 12-2, and concluded the year with a first round loss in the NCAA Team Championship Tournament.
After Coach Katarina Petrovic guided the Panthers to an 8-2 record in 2020, which was cut short due to the pandemic, their 2021 season saw a similar fate as they played only 11 games, compared to the 18 to 20 games they play in a normal season.
The team was led by Doubles Duo of Juniors Basak Akbas, and Kamila Umarova, which were the 59th ranked duo in the nation recognized by the ITA rankings. They were a key part in allowing the Panthers to have another winning season and get to the NCAA tournament.
Recruiting for the Summer
After Coronavirus impacted their 2020 season, the team was looking ahead to 2021., where they recruited two international players in Andjela Skrobnja, and Andreea Velcea.
Skrobnja is native to Serbia, was ranked as high as 112th in the International Tennis Federation, while earning 31 wins. She also had many recruits from Power 5 Schools like Auburn and Texas Tech.
Velcea comes from Romania and has over 30 wins in the past three years. She chose FIU for Coach Petrovic, and for the College of Business.
Both recruits helped FIU earn the 21st ranked recruiting class among Division 1 Programs, and 2nd overall in mid-major programs.
Starting Off on the Right Tracks
The season began on the road taking on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, kicking off five games against non-conference opponents. They took down the Eagles by a score of 4-3, gaining one point in the doubles matchup, but finished off strong gaining three victories from Basak Akbas (6-2, 6-3), Velcea (6-3, 6-0), Marina Alcaide (6-3, 6-2), and Kristina Milectic (6-3, 6-4).
They then came back to Miami taking on North Florida, which they won the series 5-2, sweeping in the doubles matches with the duo of Akbas and Umarova winning 6-3, and Freshmans Skrobnja and Velcea getting points on the singles side.
This was followed up by two more victories over Stetson and FAMU, in which the Panthers swept both teams with scores of 7-0. They then wrapped up the non-conference with a victory over East Tennessee State giving Akbas and Umarova their third double win of the season.
Dominating Conference Play
The Panthers finished non-conference play with a 5-0 record.. They kicked off their Conference USA season in Bowling Green, taking on Western Kentucky. They dominated the Hilltopers by a score of 5-2. FIU took down five single set matches with Alcaide and Veleca winning their matches and having a 6-0 record in single play.
Then, it was against Middle Tennessee which the Panthers defeated by the same score of 5-2. Umarova and Akbas continued their winning streak with another doubles victory. This was FIU’s seventh consecutive victory and the best start in the program’s history since its 7-0 streak in 1994.
After a two week break, the team was back on track taking on the Rice Owls, who are 28th ranked in the NCAA. The score was tied 3-3, until Skrobonja won six straight single matches and helped achieve the fourth point to overcome the Owls 4-3.
The final game of the regular season saw FIU take on the South Florida Bulls in which Alcaide and Skrobonja took down straight to give the Panthers a 4-2 win and an undefeated 9-0 record heading into the C-USA championship
Tournament Play in Texas
As a result of their perfect record, FIU qualified for the C-USA Championship in Denton, Texas, giving the Panthers an opportunity to win their second Conference USA victory for the second time since 2018.
They took on UTEP in the first round, taking a quick 1-0 lead on the doubles courts and Alcaide and Umarova gave the Panthers straight set victories to defeat UTEP by a score of 4-0.
In the quarterfinals, FIU took on the Marshall Thundering Herd, earning themselves another three straight sets win to win 4-0 again and advance to the semifinals where they would take on Rice. The Panthers defeated the Owls 4-3 to win the C-USA Championship for the first time since 2018.
The matchup between Rice and FIU saw the Panthers take a 1-0 leadon the doubles court.Alcaide, who was ranked 107th, then took down Rice’s 92nd ranked Linda Huang for Marinas first ever ranked victory and propelled the Panthers to a 4-2 win.
This set the stage for FIU to take on Old Dominion for the C-USA championship, which saw the duos of Umarova and Skrobonja and Akbas and Miletic give FIU the doubles point.
The start of the singles matches, the Panthers added one more point making it 2-0, however the Monarchs came back taking down the next four matches to win 4-2. This was FIU’s first loss of the season, handing them a12-1 record following the tournament.
NCAA Tournament Play
However, despite the loss, the season was not done for the Panthers as they had made the NCAA Team Championship. hey took on the University of Miami Hurricanes in Orlando for the first round of the tournament.
The doubles contest was very competitive, yet the Hurricanes took the points. In the singles sets Umarova defeated highly ranked Estela Perez-Sommariba by a score of 6-4, unfortunately Miami took decisions on three courts before the other matches could finish giving the Hurricanes the 4-0 win, and end the Panthers’ season.
Although the Panthers were unable to win in the C-USA Championship or advance in the NCAA tournament, it was another impressive season for FIU, who started out with an 11-0 record, one of the best ever starts in program history.
With the constant success of the duo Akbas and Umarova, and the young freshman of Veleca and Skrobonja, this team is going to have many more victories for the upcoming seasons.
The FIU Tennis team declined an interview request from PantherNOW.
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