Spartans Fight Hard, Drop Road Match To PBA
West Palm Beach, Fla. - The University of Tampa's Women's Tennis team stayed on the east coast of Florida for their second match in less than 24 hours. After yesterday's match at Embry-Riddle, the Spartans traveled south for today's meet with Palm Beach Atlantic.
Final: Palm Beach Atlantic 4, University of Tampa Spartans 3,
Location: Mitch Gornto Tennis Center | West Palm Beach, Fla.
Records: Tampa (2-11, 0-6 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic (6-12 2-5 SSC)
History: This was the 21st all-time matchup between these two programs. With the loss Tampa is still leading the series 12-8.
How it Happened:
Today's match began with electric doubles play. While PBA took court three, the other two courts needed extra sets after being tied 6-6 in regulation. The Tampa pairs of Nicole Casas/Sophia Gutkowski and Alexandra Chebli/Nicole Cierniak were both battling hard, coming back from 6-5 down to send their matches to extras. Unfortunately for the Spartans, PBA was able to win both courts and take doubles play 3-0. As the match transitioned to singles and Tampa already down 1-0, the Sartans knew they needed to respond. The answer to PBA's first point of the match was Nicole Cierniak as she took down her opponent in three sets to put Tampa on the board. Nicole Casas also added a win for the Spartans after she defeated her Sailfish counterpart in three sets as well, including a 12-10 in the final set to win in extra sets. While this gave Tampa some momentum, PBA was able to once again rally and take a 3-2 lead. The Spartans came right back with another match win, this time Sophia Gutkowski picking up a point in three sets to tie the match at 3. In the final court to finish, PBA ousted the last Spartan in three sets to take the victory.
Doubles Results: 3-0 PBA - One Point
| 1. Si Karlsson Hantzis/Cecilia Peroni (PBA) def. Alexandra Chebli/Nicole Cierniak (UT) 7-6 |
| 2. Virginia Borja/Anarella Brito (PBA) def. Nicole Casas/Sophia Gutkowski (UT) 7-6 |
| 3. Frida Alsterhem/Elsa Brenner (PBA) def. Tal Zinn/Sophie Wagner (UT) 6-3 |
Singles Results: 3-3 Tie - Three Points Each
| 1. Nicole Casas (UT) def. Virginia Borja (PBA) 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 |
| 2. Nicole Cierniak (UT) def. Si Karlsson Hantzis (PBA) 5-7, 6-1, 10-7 |
| 3. Elsa Brenner (PBA) def. Alexandra Chebli (UT) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 4. Cecilia Peroni (PBA) def. Sophie Wagner (UT) 6-1, 6-2 |
| 5. Sophia Gutkowski (UT) def. Valeria Lopez (PBA) 3-6, 6-2, 12-10 |
| 6. Frida Alsterhem (PBA) def. Regina Davalos (UT) 6-2, 6-2 |
UP NEXT: Tampa's Tennis will come back home for a matchup with Eckerd College. This match will take place on April 8th at 3:00pm.