#69 FAU Advances at C-USA Championship

Thursday, April 21

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

Middle Tennessee

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Florida Atlantic

4/21/2022 10:17:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Florida Atlantic University women's tennis team, ranked No. 69 in the latest ITA national rankings, defeated host Middle Tennessee 4-0 in the first round of the 2022 Conference USA Championship, on Thursday.

The win marked the third consecutive championship the Owls have advanced to the second round. The last team to prevent FAU from advancing to the second round was MT, back in 2018 (no championship in 2020).

On Thursday, it was the freshmen who came up big, winning each of the Owls' four points. The freshmen duo of Lexi Silna and Carina Sommer were the first to win their doubles match, followed by the doubles team of Greta Schieroni and Millie-Mae Matthews. With the first point of the match secured, the team's focus turned toward singles play.

Sommers put the Owls up 2-0 and Schieroni's win pulled FAU within one of winning the match. Matthews closed out her match in two sets to win the clinching point for the 4-0 win.

The Owls improve to 13-10 on the season and are enjoying the program's eighth consecutive winning season. MT fell to 9-10 on the year.

FAU, seeded No. 5, will face Rice, the tournament's No. 4 seed at 2 p.m. EST on Friday.

Quotable

Assistant Coach Maria Alvarez
"Today was a good team win. I think winning the doubles' point was important and made the girls compete at a good level in singles. Especially in this match, every detail made a difference and that's something we have been working on during the season. I think the girls have improved and are competing at a high level on the important points. Now we have to focus for the next challenge and give it our best."

The Results

#69 5-seed Florida Atlantic W-Tennis 4, 12-seed Middle Tennessee W 0
Singles competition
1. Kudelova, Martina (FAU-W) vs. Lee Barnard (MTSU) 6-3, 6-7, unfinished
2. Filip, Katerina (FAU-W) vs. Muskan Gupta (MTSU) 5-7, 6-0, 1-0, unfinished
3. McGinnis, Amber (FAU-W) vs. Zani Barnard (MTSU) 6-3, 3-6, 2-1, unfinished
4. Schieroni, Greta (FAU-W) def. Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Matthews, Millie-Mae (FAU-W) def. Noelle Mauro (MTSU) 6-3, 7-5
6. Sommer, Carina (FAU-W) def. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt (MTSU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Filip, Katerina/Kudelova, Martina (FAU-W) vs. Lee Barnard/Noelle Mauro (MTSU) 3-4, unfinished
2. Schieroni, Greta/Matthews, Millie-Mae (FAU-W) def. Zani Barnard/Eloise Swarbrick (MTSU) 6-3
3. Silna, Lexi/Sommer, Carina (FAU-W) def. Love-Star Alexis/Lilly-Sophie Schmidt (MTSU) 6-1

Match Notes:
12-seed Middle Tennessee W 9-15
5-seed Florida Atlantic W-Tennis 13-10; National ranking #69
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,4,5)
2022 Conference USA Women's Tennis - First Round
Official: Ted Mason T-2:15 A-150

Next Up

The Owls will turn their focus toward finals and the last two weeks of the semester upon returning to Paradise.

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.