SAINT LEO – Florida Southern took to the road Wednesday to play at third-ranked Saint Leo and even though they beat the incoming rain that delayed the men's match, the Moccasins couldn't overcome the host Lions, falling 9-0 in a Sunshine State Conference match.
Saint Leo, which has now won 14 in a row to improve 18-1 overall and 6-0 in the SSC, set the tone in doubles as the Moccasins (9-8 overall and 2-4 in the SSC) won just seven points over the three matches.
The Lions' number three duo of Marine Beugre-Guyot and Pauline Helgesson downed the Moccasins' team of Lorena Rionda and Katie Stanford, 8-1, while SLU's Natalia Siedliska and Anastasia Wagner, ranked ninth in the nation, defeated FSC's number one team of Selin Devrimci and Linnea Skymberg, by an 8-3 score. Isabella Robbiani and Coralie Pesenti completed the doubles sweep for Saint Leo with an 8-3 win over Natalija Popovic and Nina Vucevic at number two.
Siedliska, the second-ranked singles player in the NCAA Division II, downed Skymberg, 6-0, 6-0, at number one singles while Madeline Gauthier clinched the win for the Lions with a 6-0, 6-2 win at number four singles over FSC's Carolyn Cureton.
Robbiani, ranked 16th nationally, defeated Rionda, 6-0, 6-4, at number two singles and Wagner, ranked 18th in the South Region, downed Devrimci, 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 at number three. Pesenti posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Stanford at number five while Katherine Zaatini preserved the shutout for Saint Leo with a 6-0, 6-1 win at number six.
Florida Southern will host Embry-Riddle on Friday for a 2 p.m. at the Warden Tennis Center on the FSC campus.
