GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? The University of South Alabama women’s tennis team fought hard but dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 32 Florida International (4-0) Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. 

South Alabama (1-4) will face next return home to take on Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State on Jan. 15 at 11 a.m. at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

USA got things started off right by taking two of the three doubles matches.  The Jag duo of Adrianna Solarova and Sylvanie Spanenberg picked up an 8-6 victory at the No. 1 position over FIU’s Paula Zabala and Nikkita Fountain, while South Alabama’s Michaela Babicova and Dijana Stanic dominated Marijana Cutuk and Shilla D’Aramus, 8-1 at the third spot.

The deciding point of the match came down to the No. 2 singles match.  Babicova took the first set 6-3 from Egle Petrauiskaite, ranked No. 95 by the ITA and the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, but the Golden Panther sophomore bounced back to take the second and third sets 6-1 and 7-5 to seal the win for FIU.

“We played well today and put ourselves in a position to win,” said South Alabama head coach Jaco Keyser.  “We just have to learn how to close out matches.”

South Alabama’s Solarova and Stanic also captured three set victories of their own on the day.

Tennis Match Results

Florida International vs University of South Alabama

Feb 10, 2007 at Gainesville, Fla.

#32 Florida International 4, #75 University of South Alabama 3

 Singles competition

1. Adrianna Solarova (USAW) def. Paula Zabala (FIU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2

2. #95 Egle Petrauiskaite (FIU) def. Michaela Babicova (USAW) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5

3. Marijana Cutuk (FIU) def. Jelena Krivacevic (USAW) 6-3, 6-3

4. Shilla D'Armas (FIU) def. Rita Freitas (USAW) 6-2, 6-4

5. Dijana Stanic (USAW) def. Maria Dolores Pazo (FIU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

6. Priscilla Castillo (FIU) def. Sylvanie Spanenberg (USAW) 6-4, 6-4

 Doubles competition

1. Adrianna Solarova/Sylvanie Spanenberg (USAW) def. Nikkita Fountain/Paula Zabala (FIU) 8-6

2. Egle Petrauiskaite/Priscilla Castillo (FIU) def. Jelena Krivacevic/Rita Freitas (USAW) 9-7

3. Dijana Stanic/Michaela Babicova (USAW) def. Marijana Cutuk/Shilla D'Armas (FIU) 8-1

Match Notes:

Florida International 4-0; National ranking #32

University of South Alabama 1-4; National ranking #75