LAKELAND - Florida Southern continued its hot play here Saturday afternoon as the 10th-ranked Moccasins collected a 5-4 win over 16th-ranked Nova Southeastern in a Sunshine State Conference match at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
With the victory, the Mocs extended its win streak to eight straight matches and improved to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in the SSC, while NSU fell to 13-8 overall and 3-4 in the SSC.
In Saturday's match, NSU opened by taking two of the three matches, but the Mocs prevented a sweep by the Sharks in doubles when its No. 12 ranked team of senior Sabine Goge (Cesis, Latvia) and junior Magda Riutort (Petra, Spain) earned an 8-2 win over NSU's Alex Johansson and Carlee Rizzolo at the No. 1 spot. It was the seventh straight win in doubles for Goge and Riutort as they improved to 13-3 on the season.
Meanwhile, in singles play, the Mocs, who were trailing 2-1 after doubles, opened by winning four straight matches to seal its victory and improve to 9-2 at home this season. NSU would win the final two singles matches.
In singles, the Mocs first win came at the No. 3 spot as junior Olivia Spagnuolo (Andover, Mass.) earned a straight set (6-1, 6-3) win over Rizzolo, while its next win came at the No. 6 spot as senior Pamela Paradis (Quebec City, Quebec) picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Iryna Serdyuk. The win improved Paradis to 6-3 on the season, including 3-1 at the No. 6 singles spot.
The next win in singles came from 44th-ranked Goge at the No. 2 spot as she picked up a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sabrina Kierberg. The win was Goge's 14th consecutive in singles and improved her season record to 14-1.
FSC's final win in singles came at the No. 5 spot as junior Victoria Spagnuolo (Andover, Mass.) picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win over Bianca Roberts to improve to 5-2 on the season in singles.
NSU's wins in singles came at the No. 1 and No. 4 spots as 48th-ranked Johansson picked up a win in a third-set tiebreaker over 40th-ranked Riutort at the No. 1 spot, while Linda Kornienko earned a win in a third-set tiebreaker over freshman Dominique Friedrichs (Hufingen, Germany).
At the No. 1 spot, Johansson picked up a 6-3 win in the first set, before Riutort rebounded to pick up a 7-6 win in the second set and Johansson then earned a 10-6 win in the third set tiebreaker, while Kornienko lost the first set to Friedrichs, 6-4, before earning a 7-6 win in the second set and a 10-4 in the third-set tiebreaker.
The Mocs will remain at home to host Embry-Riddle in a 3 p.m. match on Wednesday, April 9 at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
#10 Florida Southern 5, #16 Nova Southeastern 4
04/05/14 at Lakeland, FL (Wynee Warden Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #48 Alex Johansson (NSU) def. #40 Magda Riutort (FSCW) 6-3, 6-7, 10-6 |
| 2. #44 Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. Sabrina Kierberg (NSU) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 3. Olivia Spagnuolo (FSCW) def. Carlee Rizzolo (NSU) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 4. Linda Kornienko (NSU) def. Dominique Friedrichs (FSCW) 4-6, 7-6, 10-4 |
| 5. Victoria Spagnuolo (FSCW) def. Bianca Roberts (NSU) 6-1, 6-2 |
| 6. Pamela Paradis (FSCW) def. Iryna Serdyuk (NSU) 6-2, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #12 Magda Riutort/Sabine Goge (FSCW) def. Alex Johansson/Carlee Rizzolo (NSU) 8-2 |
| 2. Sabrina Kierberg/Alex Kaeser (NSU) def. Olivia Spagnuolo/Victoria Spagnuolo (FSCW) 8-6 |
| 3. Iryna Serdyuk/Linda Kornienko (NSU) def. Laura Wichmann/Joalis Dominguez (FSCW) 8-3 |
| Match Notes |
| Nova Southeastern 13-8, 3-4 SSC; National ranking #16; Regional ranking #8 |
| Florida Southern 14-3, 4-2 SSC; National ranking #10; Regional ranking #6 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,6,2,5,4,1) |
