TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 20 Florida State women’s tennis team (7-2) remained unbeaten at home after they hosted their military appreciation match on Saturday against Air Force in which they celebrated the reveal of the new Scott Speicher memorial in front of the tennis center. The Noles first took down the Air Force Academy (5-2) 7-0 and finished off the day with a 7-0 win over Georgia Southern (3-1).
“It has been a pretty emotional last couple of days with the Scott Speicher memorial unveiling and then today’s military event,” said head coach Jennifer Hyde. “It is always so moving for everyone. It was once again an absolutely stunning event. I was so proud of everyone that put their hand in to make it such a special day for the students, veterans and the Speicher family.”
“Two 7-0 wins are always good. It is taking care of the work that we need to take care of relatively efficiently.”
The Seminoles began the day by making quick work on the doubles courts. Senior Gabby Castaneda and sophomore Nandini Das got the first Florida State win as they took down their opponent 6-1 on court three. Not too long after sophomore Andrea Garcia and freshman Petra Hule won on court two 6-1 to clinch the doubles point
The Seminoles continued their hot play in singles as they went on to win all six courts. Garcia gave the Garnet and Gold a 2-0 lead over the Falcons as she remained undefeated on the season with a 6-1, 6-0 win on court six. Touly extended the Seminoles lead to three as she dominated her opponent in the second set. She fought in the first to get a 6-3 lead. In the second set, she showed why she is ranked No. 99 as she shut out Air Force’s TJ Fumagalli 6-0. Castaneda clinched her first match of the season on court three as she took down Meredith Laskey in straight sets. She took the first set 6-4 and dominated the second 6-1.
The Seminoles continued their dominating play as junior Julia Mikulski won on court four 6-3, 6-1. She was followed up by fellow junior Ariana Rahamanparast who grabbed a 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 three-set victory. Hule capped off the Seminoles 7-0 sweep of Air Force on court two with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Florida State took care of business in doubles of their second match against Georgia Southern as they defeated the Eagles 6-3 on courts one and two. Garcia and Hule won their fourth dual match of the season and 15th match of the year together.
The Seminoles clinched the match quickly as they earned wins on courts one, two and four. Castaneda finished first on court four with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Touly quickly followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court one. Das earned her first match-clinching win of the season on court two with a 6-3, 6-4 win. She was down 3-0 in the first set but came back to win the next seven games.
Hule gave the Noles a 5-0 lead after winning the 10 point third-set tiebreaker. She took set one 6-4 but was forced into a third set after losing set two 6-3. She fell behind in the tiebreaker but stormed back to win the final four points to grab the victory. After a bad showing in the first set sophomore, Gabby Goldin turned her match around to win the next two. She grabbed the second set 6-4 and took the 10-point tiebreak 10-5 in the third. Freshman Lucie Prochazkova fought back from a big deficient in the third set 10-point tiebreaker to clinch Florida State’s second 7-0 shutout win of the day.
Florida State will be home once again next week as they take on their first ACC foe, Georgia Tech on Sunday, February 25th.
“Now we recover and our sights are set on next Sunday when we take on Georgia Tech in our first ACC match,” said Hyde. “I am really looking forward to getting into the meat of the season.”
