MACON, Ga. – The Florida Southern College women's tennis team opened its fall tournament schedule over the weekend, traveling to Macon to compete in the annual Mercer Gridiron Classic hosted by Mercer University.
All 10 Moccasins took the court in a mix of singles and doubles play, featuring
Josie Holderbach, Ronja Scheuermann, Annika Berrendorf, Emily Jennewein, Jolie Miller, Kennedi Brown, Elena Samuelsson, Realtin Stara, Elona Simonov, and
Elin Axler.
Newcomers Holderbach and Stara impressed in their FSC debuts, each capturing opening-round singles victories. Holderbach earned a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win over Mercer's Marina De Diego Quinones, while Stara rallied for a three-set victory, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, against Irina Furtuna of Middle Georgia. Scheuermann also pushed her match to three sets before falling to Mercer's Tea Zivic (7-5, 4-6, 1-6), and Jennewein battled through a competitive three-setter against East Tennessee State's Audelie Lesauvage, taking the first set 6-2 before dropping the next two. Miller added another marathon effort, falling in a third-set tiebreak to Middle Georgia State's Ainhoa Meili Fernandez (2-6, 6-4, 6-7 [7-9]).
Holderbach advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) victory over ETSU's Alessandra Caceres before bowing out in the semifinals. Stara also reached the quarterfinals, taking the first set 6-2 before falling 4-6, 0-6 to Maria Ivankovic. In consolation play, Jennewein and Axler each closed the day with wins—Jennewein defeating Mercer's Abide Valentine Talaki 4-6, 6-4 (10-2) and Axler topping Alisa Chiang 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles play featured several strong pairings for the Mocs. Returning duo Jennewein and Scheuermann opened the year with a 6-3 win over Georgia College, while newcomers Simonov and Stara earned a 6-2 victory against South Alabama. The newly formed tandem of Axler and Berrendorf impressed with back-to-back wins, defeating ETSU 6-1 and Troy 6-3. On day two, Brown and Holderbach teamed up for a 6-2 win over Georgia College, and Miller and Samuelsson added a 6-4 victory against the host Bears.
Florida Southern returns home next weekend for the YTF Invite, hosted at the Beerman Family Tennis Complex in Lakeland from Oct. 10–12.
