No. 5 Sharks Tennis Opens ITA Indoors on 4-0 Victory Over No. 6 Saint Leo

EDMOND, Okla. – Taking on the opening-day quarterfinal of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II women’s Indoor Championships, the No. 5 Nova Southeastern Sharks tennis team (9-0) secured key early victory against No. 6 Saint Leo in a 4-0 win, Friday morning at Oak Tree Country Club. The ITA Indoor Championships lines up the nation’s top-ranked teams from the final 2019 standings, with three representatives from the Sunshine State Conference.

DOUBLES

  • Despite NCAA No. 1 pair Natalie Espinal and Sarah Wardenburg facing their first loss of the of the championship season, the Sharks delivered the requisite pair of doubles wins to secure the team point as bookend victories.
  • In the second flight, Daniela Obando and Tingting Pei got things started with a 6-4 victory over Molly Helgesson and Nastasia Jedrychowski
  • At the three, Karolina Snita and Diane Follin-Arbelet clinched the point with a 6-3 win over Marta Vicens Miquel and Anna Marija Bukina, setting the Sharks on the path to the opening-round team victory.

SINGLES

  • Avenging the doubles loss, NCAA No. 4 Espinal provided the second Sharks point on a 6-2, 6-1 first-flight win over Helgesson.
  • Celia Montero Estevan followed at No. 6, defeating Bukina, 6-0, 6-1.
  • At No. 5, Wardenburg also picked up a singles win to clinch the overall victory, defeating Jedrychowski, 6-4, 6-3.
  • At the time the match was called for the Sharks, NSU was also leading in the second flight with Karolina Snita, 6-4, 2-0.

FROM COACH DOUG NEAGLE
“Great way to start this tournament out. Any SSC team is a tough out and our girls were ready for the challenge today. We know we have our hands full with Barry tomorrow, but we know we just have to give our best effort. That’s all I ask!”

UP NEXT
Play continues tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. CST at the Oak Tree Country Club in the ITA Indoors semifinal. The Sharks will face another familiar foe in Barry, which defeated Washburn 4-0 in its opening-round matchup. The No. 1-ranked and three-time defending National Champion Bucs are 7-0 – these teams last met when NSU knocked BU out of the SSC Championships in the semifinal last April in Bradenton, 4-2.

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