SAINT LEO - Florida Southern picked up a huge Sunshine State Conference victory here Wednesday afternoon as the 10th-ranked Moccasins rallied to earn a 5-4 win over seventh-ranked Saint Leo at the SLU Tennis Complex.
With the win, the Mocs improve to 13-3 overall and 3-2 in the SSC, while SLU fell to 14-4 overall and 3-3 in the league.
The Mocs, who trailed 4-3 after senior Magda Riutort (Petra, Spain) picked up an impressive straight set win at No. 1 singles over SLU's Coralie Pesenti, earned the match win thanks to back-to-back three-set wins in singles by senior Laura Wichmann (Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany) and freshman Dominique Friedrichs (Hufingen, Germany). Wichmann defeated Adrianna Daskiewicz in three sets at No. 6 singles, while Friedrichs earned a three-set win at the No. 5 singles spot over Paula Montoya.
Wichmann lost the first set to Daskiewicz, 6-4, before posting a 6-1 win in the second set and then battling leg cramps in the third set, Wichmann picked up a 6-3 win in the third set. Friedrichs opened her win over Montoya with a 7-5 win in the first set, before suffering a 6-4 loss in the second set. With the match tied at a set apiece, Friedrichs jumped out to a 3-0 lead en route to earning a 6-3 win at No. 6 singles.
SLU opened the match by winning two of the three doubles matches with FSC's only win coming at the No. 1 spot in the line-up as Riutort and senior Sabine Goge (Cesis, Latvia) earned an 8-4 win over 24th-ranked Anastasia Wagner and Montoya. Riutort and Goge are ranked 12th in the latest ITA Division II doubles rankings.
The Lions, though, would take a 2-1 lead in the match as they won at both the No. 2 and No. 3 spot in doubles.
FSC would tie the match at 2-2 following a straight set dominating win at the No. 2 singles spot by Goge as she defeated 47th-ranked Wagner, 6-2, 6-1. Goge is ranked 44th in the latest Division II singles rankings.
SLU would collect wins at both the No. 4 and No. 3 singles spots to take a 4-2 lead in the match. At the No. 4 spot, Maria Benkirane defeated junior Olivia Spagnuolo (Andover, Mass.) and Laura Kemkes defeated senior Joalis Dominguez (Vero Beach, Fla.) in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) at the No. 3 spot.
The Mocs would use 40th-ranked Riutort's win at the No. 1 spot over Pesenti to push within 4-3 with two singles matches still in action. With her win, Riutort improved to 11-5 overall on the season and won her seventh consecutive singles match.
FSC will return to action on Saturday, April 5 as they host 16th-ranked Nova Southeastern in a 10 a.m. SSC match at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
#10 Florida Southern 5, #7 Saint Leo 4
04/2/14 at Saint Leo, FL (SLU Tennis Complex)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #40 Magda Riutort (FSCW) def. Coralie Pesenti (SLU) 7-5, 6-1 |
| 2. #44 Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. #47 Anastasia Wagner (SLU) 6-2, 6-1 |
| 3. Laura Kemkes (SLU) def. Joalis Dominguez (FSCW) 6-2, 6-1 |
| 4. Maria Benkirane (SLU) def. Olivia Spagnuolo (FSCW) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 5. Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) def. Paula Montoya (SLU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 |
| 6. Laura Wichmann (FSCW) def. Adrianna Daszkiewicz (SLU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #12 Magda Riutort/Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. #24 Paula Montoya/Anastasia Wagner (SLU) 8-4 |
| 2. Laura Kemkes/Coralie Pesenti (SLU) def. Olivia Spagnuolo/Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) 8-5 |
| 3. Adrianna Daszkiewicz/Maria Benkirane (SLU) def. Laura Wichmann/Joalis Dominguez (FSCW) 8-6 |
| Match Notes |
| Florida Southern 13-3, 3-2 SSC; National ranking #10; Regional ranking #6 |
| Saint Leo 14-4, 3-3 SSC; National ranking #7; Regional ranking #3 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,3,1,6,5) |
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