FIU Comes Back to Defeat Troy in Quarterfinals

Friday, April 20

Denton, Texas

8:00 a.m.

Troy University

Florida International University

Photo by: Tyler Myers

FIU Comes Back to Defeat Troy in Quarterfinals

4/20/2012 3:36:00 PM | Tennis (W)

By: Matt Mays

DENTON, Texas – The Troy women's tennis team was rolling when the rain came at the Waranch Tennis Complex, but after a lengthy delay with Troy winning 3-1, FIU took the remaining three singles matches to capture a 4-3 victory. The Panthers now move to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships.

The Trojans (11-10), the tournament's seventh seed, see their season come to an abrupt end while second seeded FIU (6-14) moves on to face Middle Tennessee in the semifinals.

“We came out a led for 70 percent of the match,” said head coach Eric Hayes. “But when it came time to close it out, we couldn't, although we had several chances at numbers four through six.

“All the credit goes to FIU as they made the shots to win. We let a golden opportunity slip away. When you're up 3-0 you must keep the pressure on to finish.”

Troy dropped the first doubles match at number two, but the All-Sun Belt tandem of Karoline Grymel and Lyubov Dorofeeva did their part with an 8-5 win at number one to tie up the doubles point. Candela Munoz Giron and Olfa Dhaoui then took an 8-6 victory at number three to give Troy the early 1-0 lead.

Grymel quickly took care of Rita Maisak at number one singles, 6-1, 6-0, to give Troy a 2-0 lead while Dhaoui also won easily at number three, 6-0, 6-4, to give Troy a commanding 3-0 lead.

However, before the rain came at 12:00 noon, FIU's Sarah McLean got the Panthers on the board with a, 6-2, 6-2, win over Dorofeeva at number two singles.

At that point, with matches four, five and six still on the court, both teams were pulled off due to rain and didn't return to the court until 2:00 p.m.

When the two teams came back on the court, FIU clinched a tight match at number six over Troy's Rosaura Ramirez-Vega. FIU then tied match at 3-3 with another tight win at number five over Samya El Hsissen, 6-4, 6-4.

The lone three-set match of the day was the decider as Munoz Giron fell at number four to FIU's Karyn Guttormsen, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an incredibly close match.

FIU 4, Troy 3
Apr 20, 2012 at Denton, Texas (Waranch Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. Karoline Grymel (TROY) def. Rita Maisak (FIU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Sarah McLean (FIU) def. Lyubov Dorofeeva (TROY) 6-2, 6-2
3. Olfa Dhaoui (TROY) def. Lisa Johnson (FIU) 6-0, 6-4
4. Karyn Guttormsen (FIU) def. Candela Munoz Giron (TROY) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Christine Seredni (FIU) def. Samya El Hsissen (TROY) 6-4, 6-4
6. Gulietta Boha (FIU) def. Gabrielle Veiga (TROY) 6-3, 7-6

Doubles competition
1. Lyubov Dorofeeva/Karoline Grymel (TROY) def. Rita Maisak/Sarah McLean (FIU) 8-5
2. Gulietta Boha/Karyn Guttormsen (FIU) def. Rosaura Ramirez-Vega/Gabrielle Veiga (TROY) 8-4
3. Candela Munoz Giron/Olfa Dhaoui (TROY) def. Lisa Johnson/Christine Seredni (FIU) 8-6

Match Notes
Troy 11-10
Florida International 6-14
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,3,2,6,5,4)