FIU WTN News: FIU to Play for C-USA Title After 4-2 Victory Over No. 37 Rice

DENTON, Texas (April 24, 2021) – The FIU women’s tennis team prevailed over Rice 4-2 on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers now advance to the Conference USA Championship match on Sunday against ODU. 

The victory over No. 37 Rice is FIU’s second ranked-win of the season, with both coming against the Owls. FIU stays unbeaten as well, with the Panthers improving to 12-0 on the year and have now won their last 17 matches overall dating back to 2020.

FIU jumped ahead 1-0 on Saturday, after the Panthers won the doubles point following wins on courts one and three. 

The Owls picked up a singles win to tie it at 1-1, before No. 107 Marina Alcaide knocked off Rice’s No. 92 Linda Huang in straight-sets for her first ranked singles win. 

Andjela Skrobonja made it 3-1 in favor of FIU with a three-set victory on court four, before the Owls won another match to narrow the gap at 3-2. 

With only two courts remaining, Kamila Umarova stormed back to win her second-set tiebreaker and officially send FIU to Sunday’s championship match. 

Both Umarova and Skrobonja have won all three of their singles matches this weekend in Denton. 

UP NEXT
No. 45 FIU will face off against top-seeded and 34th-ranked ODU in Sunday’s championship match. First serve is slated for 11 a.m. ET.

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