Women’s Tennis Ends Stretch of Matches with a Long Match Loss

Tuesday, March 12

Boca Raton, Fla.

10:00 AM

Florida Atlantic

Liberty

2018 FAU Women's Tennis vs Florida Gulf Coast

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Women’s Tennis Ends Stretch of Matches with a Long Match Loss

3/12/2019 4:58:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

Matches are free and open to the public

Five matches in 10 days, including a match against the nation's No. 29 team, is the way the Florida Atlantic University women's tennis team (5-7) spent their spring break. That five-match run came to a close on Tuesday morning with a grueling 4-3 loss to Liberty University (6-5).

The Owls played two matches on Monday equating to nearly six hours on the courts and came away with a 1-1 mark on the day. FAU returned to the courts 15 hours later to face Liberty, which quickly proved to be evenly matched with the Owls, returning everything hit their way.

The Owls dropped the doubles point, and were even at three matches each in singles play, which allowed Liberty to take the match 4-3. Three of the singles matches (No.'s 1, 3 and 6) need three sets to determine the winner. The Owls won two of those matches (No.'s 1 and 3). As a team, FAU had played just 15 (9-6) three-set matches on the year through 12 dual contests.

Cava's Chatter

"Martina (Kudelova) and Natalia (Boltinskaya) battled back to win in the third set after being down, showing a ton of heart and passion," said Marcy Cava, FAU's head women's tennis coach. "This was the third time Kristen (Thoms) was placed in the clinch position this year and she left it all out on the court today (Thoms had won the previous two). That's all I can ask for as a coach."

Notable

On singles courts 3, 4 and 6, the Owls found themselves in early trouble. Boltinskaya, on court three, dropped the first set quickly and then fought to win the next two, being the next-to-last to finish
May Kimhi was down in the first set 0-4 and forced a tiebreaker, but eventually fell 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
The length of the matches on courts 4 and 6 proved crucial for the Owls. Liberty held a 3-1 advantage and any loss would stop the match, but the fight of Kimhi and Thoms allowed the team competition to continue providing enough time for Kudelova to win her match on court 1 (6-2, 4-6, 7-5) and Boltinskaya, on court 3, to win hers (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) setting up the drama on court 6.

Full Results: Liberty 4, FAU 3
Doubles
#1 Maria Medina / Lara Soares (LU) vs. Jemi Aguilar / Natalia Boltinskaya (FAU) 3-5
#2 Kalani Soli / Grace Hashiguchi (LU) def. Barbora Palcatova / Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU) 6-4
#3 Anna Dollar / Ashley Bongart (LU) def. Martina Kudelova / May Kimhi (FAU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2

Singles
#1 Martina Kudelova (FAU) def. Ashley Bongart (LU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
#2 Kalani Soli (LU) def. Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU) 6-3, 6-1
#3 Natalia Boltinskaya def. Lara Soares (LU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
#4 Maria Medina (LU) def. May Kimhi 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
#5 Barbora Palcatova (FAU) def. Grace Hashiguchi (LU) 6-4, 6-1
#6 Anna Dollar (LU) def. Kristen Thoms (FAU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4, 1, 3, 6

What's Next

FAU women's tennis will return to the courts, Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15 to play LIU-Brooklyn and Pitt, respectively. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. All home matches are played at the FAU Tennis Complex. To follow the team, visit FAUsports.com. Live stats are available HERE. Fans can also follow via Twitter at @FAUAthletics.