LAKELAND - Florida Southern saw its five-match win streak halted here Friday afternoon as the 10th-ranked Moccasins dropped a hard-fought 7-2 decision to seventh-ranked West Florida in a South Region match at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
With the setback, the Mocs fall to 6-3 on the season, while UWF improved to 8-0 on the season.
In Friday's match, the Argonauts opened by taking all three doubles matches as they posted wins at the No. 1 and 2 spot by identical 8-3 scores, while the doubles match at the No. 3 spot was a back-and-forth affair as seniors Laura Wichmann (Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany) and Joalis Dominguez (Vero Beach, Fla.) battled Nina Bubelova and Fernanda Amaral all the way to the end before the UWF duo prevailed, 9-7.
The Mocs picked up its two wins on Friday at No. 2 and No. 4 singles as senior Sabine Goge (Cesis, Latvia) won her eighth straight match by posting a win in a third-set tiebreaker at the No. 2 spot over Laure-Eline Faure (6-2, 4-6, 10-4), while junior Olivia Spagnuolo (Andover, Mass.) won her third straight match with a win at the No. 4 spot in a third-set tiebreaker (4-6, 6-4, 10-6).
UWF would win the other four singles matches in straight sets, including earning a hard-fought win at the No. 1 spot that featured two nationally-ranked players in Moccasin junior Magda Riutort (Petra, Spain) and UWF's Monika Kochanova. Riutort, who is ranked 22nd in singles, fell 6-3, 6-4 to 20th-ranked Kochanova.
The Mocs will continue its eight-match home stand on Monday, March 17 as they host Washburn (Kan.) in a 5 p.m. match at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
#7 West Florida 7, #10 Florida Southern 2
03/14/14 at Lakeland, FL (Wynee Warden Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #20 Monika Kochanova (UWF) def. #22 Magda Riutort (FSCW) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2. #36 Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. Laure-Eline Faure (UWF) 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 |
| 3. Kat Dikosavljevic (UWF) def. Joalis Dominguez (FSCW) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 4. Olivia Spagnuolo (FSCW) def. Nina Bubelova (UWF) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 |
| 5. Fernanda Amaral (UWF) def. Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 6. Sarai Flores (UWF) def. Laura Wichmann (FSCW) 6-2, 6-4 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #14 Monika Kochanova/Laure-Eline Faure (UWF) def. #10 Sabine Goge/Magda Riutort (FSCW) 8-3 |
| 2. Giovana Patitucci/Kat Dikosavljevic (UWF) def. Olivia Spagnuolo/Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) 8-3 |
| 3. Nina Bubelova/Fernanda Amaral (UWF) def. Laura Wichmann/Joalis Dominguez (FSCW) 9-7 |
| Match Notes |
| West Florida 8-0; National ranking #7; Regional ranking #3 |
| Florida Southern 6-3; National ranking #10; Regional ranking #6 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,5,3,2,4,6) |
