Ruiz, Owls Clinch First Ever C-USA Tournament Win

Thursday, April 19

Norfolk, Va.

12 p.m. ET

Florida Atlantic

Marshall

4/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

April 19, 2018

Final Stats

NORFOLK, Va. -- The Florida Atlantic University women's tennis team is advancing to the Conference USA Tournament Quarterfinals for the first time after beating Marshall 4-2 on Thursday. Senior Marisa Ruiz extended her career by winning the deciding point.

"Our team stepped up today on so many levels," FAU Head Coach Marcy Hora-Cava said. "Today more than any other day, I'm more then 100 percent confident in not only my players' tennis, but their ability to rise above any kind of challenge."

The Owls, just two years removed from being eliminated by Marshall in 2016, dropped a battle in the doubles despite No. 55 Aliona Bolsova and Jemi Aguilar winning their match 6-0
No. 2 Bolsova tied the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Stephanie Smith in singles play to improve to 18-0 on the year
Freshman Natalia Boltinskaya topped Maddie Silver 6-0, 6-4 to give FAU the edge
Fellow freshman Aguilar then beat Brooke Lashway 6-1, 7-5 to extend the lead
Ruiz then sealed the comeback victory in her 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win against Marija Bogicevic in the No. 3 slot to give FAU it's first C-USA Tournament win in program history.

Up Next:
The fourth-seeded Owls advance to face fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee, who beat UTSA 4-0 on Thursday. The Owls and Blue Raiders will square off at 2 p.m. ET on Friday in Norfolk.