Box Score DENTON, Texas ? Second-seeded Florida International used a strong performance in singles and a sweep of the top two positions in doubles to power past the 10th-seeded ULM women's tennis team in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Denton, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.
FIU, ranked 37th in the nation in the latest ITA poll, got off to a quick start with a pair of 8-1 victories at number one and two doubles to grab the early team lead and never looked back.
“We knew coming in that Florida International was a very tough opponent,” ULM head coach Terrence De Jongh said. “They are nationally ranked for a reason. They played well today and in the end were a little crisper in their execution than we were.”
The ULM (9-10) tandem of sophomore Claire Clark and senior Marion Lehmann was tied with the FIU (16-5) pair of Maria Spenceley and Priscilla Castillo at 4-4 at number three doubles when the Golden Panthers had picked up the necessary victories.
In singles play, it was more of the same as the Golden Panthers were able to pick up straight set victories in the first, third and fourt positions.
FIU expanded its lead to 2-0 when Maria Pazo downed ULM senior Sharon Makhanya, 6-3, 6-1, at number four singles. The loss for the Durban, South Africa, native came in the final match of a career that spanned four seasons with the Warhawks and included more than 60 spring singles victories.
ULM saw the deficit grow to 3-0 when FIU's nationally ranked Liset Brito (number 67) powered past junior Lena Satge, 6-1, 6-0, at number one singles. The Golden Panthers would clinch the match shortly thereafter with a 6-0, 6-1, win by 86th-ranked Mariana Muci over sophomore Ana Burjaili at number three singles.
With the necessary points, the match was called.
Sophomore Claire Clark claimed the first set of her singles match against Spenceley, 7-6, before the match was called. In two tournament matches, the Warhawks highest nationally ranked player (number 118) had two unfinished matches. The Bossier City, La., native led in both when the match was decided.
Senior Marion Lehmann, ULM's other All-Sun Belt Conference honoree, also went unfinished on the day. Lehmann dropped her first set at number six singles to Maria Vallasciana, 7-5, and was tied in the second set, 1-1.
Freshman Monica Winkel's match against Priscilla Castillo went unfinished as the match had been decided.
“I'm proud of our team for the way they carried themselves this weekend at the Sun Belt Conference tournament,” De Jongh said. “They brought great intensity to the tournament. We are working on building a strong tennis program and I believe that our showing here ? in winning against Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round and getting two players on the all-conference team ? is proof that we are going in the right direction.”
Clark and Lehamnn represented ULM on the six-person all-conference team after posting matching 16-1 records in the regular season and being amongst the league's six highest ranked players in the ITA rankings.
Singles competition (4,1,3*)
1. #67 Brito, Liset (FIU) def. Lena Satge (ULM) 6-1, 6-0
2. Claire Clark (ULM) vs. Spenceley, Maria (FIU) 7-6, 1-1, unfinished
3. #86 Muci, Mariana (FIU) def. Ana Burjaili (ULM) 6-0, 6-1
4. Pazo, Maria (FIU) def. Sharon Makhanya (ULM) 6-3, 6-1
5. Castillo, Priscilla (FIU) vs. Monica Winkel (ULM) 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
6. Vallasciani, Maria (FIU) vs. Marion Lehmann (ULM) 7-5, 1-1, unfinished
Doubles competition (2,1*)
1. Muci, Mariana/Pazo, Maria (FIU) def. Satge, Lena/Burjaili, Ana (ULM) 8-1
2. Brito, Liset/Vallasciani, Maria (FIU) def. Winkel, Monica/Makhanya, Sharon (ULM) 8-1
3. Spenceley, Maria/Castillo, Priscilla (FIU) vs. Clark, Claire/Lehmann, Marion (ULM) 4-4, unfinished
