LAKELAND - Fighting back from an early 3-1 deficit, 10th-ranked Florida Southern twice tied the score, only to see #24 Nova Southeastern win the final singles match of the day to earn a 5-4 victory over the Moccasins.
Nova Southeastern (3-1, 2-1 Sunshine State Conference) won two of the three doubles matches, though Florida Southern (1-4, 1-3) took the first one behind Sabine Goge and Magda Riutort by the score of 8-1. The Sharks then went ahead 3-1 when 44th-ranked Alexandra Johansson defeated Sabine Goge at the top singles flight, 6-4, 6-2.
Florida Southern won the next two singles points behind Joalis Dominguez and Riutort, before Nova re-claimed the lead with a 3-set win by Federica Longo. The Mocs responded though as Christie Nunnemann won the third set of her match at #4 singles to once again knot the overall score at four apiece.
That left #6 singles still to be decided where Jill Doerfler had replaced Laura Wichmann in the lineup and split two sets with Charlotte Cote from Nova. Doerfler had opened with a 7-5 win, but Cote came back to claim the deciding point with a 6-2 win in the second set and a 7-5 win in the third.
Florida Southern will play its next match on Monday at 3:00, when it hosts Eckerd College.
