Panthers Defeat Nova In Women’s Tennis

By  //  February 11, 2013

Florida Tech Hosts Tampa On Friday

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – No. 18 Florida Tech won its second consecutive match over a nationally ranked opponent with a 7-2 decision over No. 16  Nova Southeastern at the Desoto Courts on Sunday.

Fourth-ranked Kristina Huba of Florida Tech defeated No. 37 Alexandra Johansson of Nova Southeastern , 6-2, 6-1, in No. 1 women’s tennis singles play on Sunday. (Image courtesy of Florida Tech)

The Panthers swept doubles play to open the match and then won the top four singles matches.

“In doubles, the girls played to our strategy the best that they have all season,” FIT head coach Bill Macom said. “They executed what we practiced throughout the week and that is what made the difference. They girls were very aggressive at the end of their matches to win.”

Junior Kristina Huba and senior Stephanie Dohner defeated Alexandra Johansson and Sabrina Kierberg in the No. 1 doubles match with a 7-5 tiebreaker to win the match, 9-8. Huba and Dohner, who rank eighth in the South Region, have now won back-to-back matches.

Senior Abbey Keister and freshman Charlotte Fahnehjelm also won their doubles match 9-8. The duo saved five match points to come back and win in a tiebreaker, 7-5, in the No. 2 doubles match.

In the No. 3 doubles match, sophomore Katie Close and freshman Chloe Chanley gave Florida Tech (2-1, 1-1 SSC) a 3-0 lead with a 9-7 victory.

“The final score does not indicate how close the match was,” Macom said, “All of the singles matches were really close and that is when the wind began to pick up. Our girls handled the wind better than [Nova Southeastern] did. We just played really smart tennis.”

Fourth-ranked Huba defeated No. 37 Johansson, 6-2, 6-1, in No. 1 singles to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead in the match.

Fahnehjelm clinched the team victory with a 7-6, 6-5 win over Carlee Rizzolo in the No. 4 singles match. The Stockholm, Sweden native now has won back-to-back singles matches.

The Panthers also won the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches.

Dohner dropped set one, 4-6, to Sabrina Kierberg, but responded to take sets two and three, 6-2, 6-3, for her first victory of the season.

Chanley won the No. 4 singles match in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, over Iryna Serdyuk.

FIT will host a fourth consecutive nationally ranked team on Friday, Feb. 15 when No. 26 Tampa travels to Melbourne. The Panthers and Spartans will compete at 2 p.m. at the Fee Avenue Courts.