Tallahassee, FL – After fighting to the bitter end to take the doubles point to start the match, the eighth-ranked Seminole women’s tennis team cruised, taking the first four singles matches and closed out ODU early with a 5-2 win. All three of the Seminoles’ (2-0) ranked singles players won in straight sets and gave FSU its second, third and game-winning fourth points.
Old Dominion (1-2) started strong in one of the day’s highlight matches as the Monarchs eighth-ranked doubles team took the first doubles match from Victoria Allen and Petra Hule, who came into the game ranked No. 7 in ITA doubles. Giulia Pairone and Emmanuelle Salas cruised in their doubles match, evening things up with a 6-3 win. That set up the battle on court three. Nandini Das and Andrea Garcia were pushed to a tie-breaker but pulled out the point for FSU with a 7-6 (7-6) victory.
“Doubles definitely got interesting,” said FSU Head Coach Jen Hyde. “The wind was a factor today. Being outside for both teams got a bit tricky but we did a good job of holding on to some things. We needed to make better decisions at pretty critical times but I think that is just going to come with more match play, where we are kind of in the heat of battle and you have to make the right decisions at the right times. That was one thing that kept it closer than it needed to be.”
Once the Noles moved into singles, the top of the lineup jumped all over ODU. Allen, ranked 106th, finished first with a 6-1, 6-2 win. Then on court one, Pairone (#27) won the featured match of the day, taking down No. 40 Holly Hutchinson 6-1, 6-2. The Seminoles then clinched the win thanks to No. 92 Das’ 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three.
“Old Dominion is a very good team. They are very talented. They’ve got a lot of really good ballplayers,” said Hyde. “I was so impressed with how we came out and got a lot of early leads up and down the courts. After such a close doubles point, things can very quickly fall a little flat and the girls came out and really got off to good starts.
“Vic did a fantastic job down on six. (Giulia), versus a Top 40 player, got a really good lead in the first set and Dre as well. I feel when you are able to respond to a tight doubles point like that and really take command of the match, we are a hard team to beat. I was really happy with the girls. They did a fantastic job competing and stayed composed. I am really proud of them.”
The Seminoles are right back at it Thursday when the 21st-ranked Gators (1-1) come to town. Florida is coming off a tight 4-3 loss to #22 UCF in Orlando. The Seminoles are on a three-game win streak versus their rivals and won the last meeting in Tallahassee when the Gators came in ranked third in the nation and the Noles cruised to a 4-1 win. Thursday’s match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Doubles will begin at 4:45 p.m. and the broadcast will start with singles play at 5:30.
Due to COVID protocols, fan attendance will be limited to 116 spectators at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center. For more information on the 2021 Seminole Women’s Tennis program, please follow us on social at FSUWTennis (IG) and @FSU_WTennis (TW) and log on to Seminoles.com.
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January 31, 2021 at 04:42AM
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No. 8 Women's Tennis Downs Old Dominion 5-2 - Seminoles.com
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