LAKELAND - Olivia Spagnuolo's three-set win at the No. 5 singles spot was the winning point for Florida Southern here Wednesday evening as the 26th-ranked Moccasins picked up an impressive 5-4 Sunshine State Conference win over 14th-ranked Tampa in its final home match of the 2013 season at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
Spagnuolo's win came at about 9:40 p.m., which was more than six-and-half hours after Wednesday's match had begun as the teams were forced to sit through a nearly two-and-half-hour delay due to rain and lightning in the Lakeland area.
Play was halted at about 5:20 p.m. due to lightning in the area with the match tied at 2-2 and right as the teams returned to the court following the 30 minute lightning delay, rain steadily began to fall that made the courts unplayable. After the 20 minute rainstorm stopped, the courts were dried and play resumed around 7:45 p.m.
With the match all tied at 4-4, Spagnuolo won her seventh singles match to give FSC (10-5 overall, 3-3 SSC) its eighth straight victory as a team. Five of those eight wins have come against ranked opponents, including its last three wins. Spagnuolo, who is a native of Andover, Mass., won the first set of her match against Kelsey Matthews 6-4, before falling 6-4 in the second set. In the third set, Spagnuolo battled back to post a 6-3 win to seal the Mocs victory.
The Mocs opened the match by dropping two of the three doubles matches to the Spartans (14-4 overall, 2-4 SSC) as UT won 8-4 and 8-6 at the No. 2 and 3 spot respectively. The Mocs lone win in doubles came at the No. 1 spot as it 12th-ranked team of sophomore Magda Riutort (Petra, Spain) and junior Sabine Goge (Cesis, Latvia) defeated UT's 25th-ranked team of Lauren Hewwtt and Meg Wladimirski, 8-4.
In singles action, the Mocs got wins at the No. 2 and No. 6 spot, while UT won at the No. 3 spot before the weather delay to tie the match at 3-3. At the No. 2 spot, Goge, who is ranked 30th nationally, defeated Wladimirski in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) and junior Laura Wichmann (Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany) defeated UT's Jenelle Morgan (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 6 spot.
UT's win prior to the weather delay came at the No. 3 spot as Hewett defeated junior Joalis Dominguez (Vero Beach, Fla.) in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Following the weather delay, Tampa took a 4-3 lead in the match thanks to its win at the No. 4 spot by Lindsey Nochowicz as Nochowicz defeated sophomore Christie Nunnemann (St. Simmons Island, Ga.), 6-2, 6-0, while the Mocs would tie the match at 4 thanks to 18th-ranked Riutort's win at the No. 1 spot over 40th-ranked Thashia Garcia (7-5, 6-4).
The Mocs will return to action this weekend as they travel to Pensacola, Fla., for four non-conference matches against Gulf South Conference foes. The Mocs open the road trip on Friday, April 5 against Alabama-Huntsville at 9 a.m., before facing West Georgia at 3 p.m. On Saturday, April 6, FSC will play Delta State at 1:30 p.m. and complete the road trip on Sunday, April 7 at 11:30 a.m. against West Florida.
