BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University's women's tennis team (6-2) fought off a spirited University of Texas Arlington (8-3), in a match that lasted nearly three and a half hours, to take the 4-3 win on Saturday.
Head Coach Caroline Wheelen
"There are so many hurdles our team overcame today to win the match,," said head coach
Caroline Wheelen. "It was a nailbiter for our fans and we want to thank them for helping the players through the opponent's tactics"
- The Owls were down 1-0 after doubles play, falling on courts two and three
- The duo of Natalie Kallmunzerova and May Kimhi were the first to come off the singles courts with wins on courts four and five, respectively. The Owls used the wins to take a 2-1 lead
- Kallmunzerova moved to 7-0 in dual match play
- Radka Buzkova defended a late push by UT Arlington to capture her match in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, her second consecutive match win on court one
- With the match tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to court six which also was in a third and deciding set. Louie McLelland put the team on her shoulders to take court six 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Singles
No. 1
Radka Buzkova (FAU) def Polina Akimova (UT Arlington) 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 Momoka Horiguchi (UT Arlington) def.
Martina Kudelova (FAU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 3
Natalia Boltinskaya (FAU) def. Liz Chileno (UT Arlington) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4
Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU) def. Aida Garcia Mendez (UT Arlington) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5
May Kimhi (FAU) def. Lucia Natal (UT Arlington) 6-2, 6-2
No. 6
Louie McLelland (FAU) def. Carla Pons (UT Arlington) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Order of finish: 4,5,1,2,3,6
Doubles
No. 1
Radka Buzkova/
May Kimhi (FAU) vs Polina Akiova/Nanaka Takeuchi (UT Arlington) unf.
No. 2 Lucia Natal/Momoka Horiguchi (UT Arlington) def.
Natalia Boltinskaya/
Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU) 6-4
No. 3 Almudena Boza/Carla Pons (UT Arlington) def.
Martina Kudelova/
Karin Kozlejova (FAU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3,2
FAU will return to its home courts for the third of 10 matches in 17 days on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. versus Yale. All home matches, held at the FAU Tennis Complex, are free and open to the public. Follow the team via social media @FAUwtennis.