BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University's women's tennis, ranked No. 69 nationally, is the No. 5 seed heading into this week's Conference USA Championship, hosted by Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Owls hold a 12-10 regular-season record and are in the midst of their eighth-consecutive season with a winning mark. FAU is scheduled to face tournament host and No. 12 seed MT at 4 p.m. est, on Thursday, April 21. The all-time series between the two schools stands at 4-4. The Owls won the last mat on January 15th of this year 6-1. The match was played at a neutral site. Should the Owls prove victorious, they would next face the winner of No. 4 seed Rice and No. 13 seed UTSA.
Each of the seven active Owls have have seen action this season and all should be well-rested coming off their last match, a 4-0 win over USF back on April 10. The Owls have faced three C-USA teams during the regular-season. FAU squared off versus C-USA foe twice in January, both in tournaments. The Owls first defeated MT, 6-1, in the FGCU Invite and then fell to Rice, who is seeded No. 4 at the C-USA Championship, 4-3 at the University of Texas Invite. Most recently, FAU fell, 4-0, to C-USA No. 2 seed FIU, in early April.
The young Owls, comprised of just two upperclassmen and five freshmen, have a full year under their belts and have grown throughout the season, becoming accustomed to the style of the new coaching staff.
Redshirt junior
Martina Kudelova broke onto the C-USA scene in 2019 as the C-USA Freshman of the Year. She has continued to build a collegiate resume, tallying a 37-22 career mark primarily playing court No. 1. Her leadership efforts are assisted by junior
Katerina Filip, who has tallied a 29-9 FAU career mark, holding down court two in 2022, but seeing time on courts three through five in 2020-21 as a transfer. The duo have tallied double-digit wins in 2022 (Kudelova 10-9 and Filip 13-4) and are joined by teammates
Millie-Mae Matthews and
Lexi Silna as double-digit winners. Matthews' regular-season record stands at 12-7 and Silna enters the tournament with a 10-4 record.
Next Up
Following the completion of the tournament, the Owls will closeout the 2021-22 academic year with finals when they return. Graduation is May 5-6; however, no one is exhausting eligibility and each of the season are scheduled to return in 2022-23.
Follow Along
For the Owls' complete schedule, click
HERE. To follow the team socially, visit @fauwtennis, or for the most up-to-date information go to
www.fausports.com.