Iowa State Defeats Florida Gulf Coast, 4-3

Tuesday, March 18

Ft. Myers, Fla.

1:00 PM

Iowa State

Florida Gulf Coast

Iowa State Defeats Florida Gulf Coast, 4-3

03.18.2008 | Tennis

By: cyclones.com

Fort Myers, Fla. - The Cyclone tennis team was able to close out their match with the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles this afternoon, earning the victory, 4-3. The win moves Iowa State to 4-5 on the season. Florida Gulf Coast's mark stands at 5-9.

Iowa State opened the contest with wins in all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Freshman Erin Karonis and senior Chrissy Derouin defeated Maria Braneicka and Jordan Vaughn, 8-4. Braniecka and Vaughn came into Tuesday's match with a double's record of 9-3. At No. 2 doubles, Caitlin Loprinzi and Kara Hickey earned their first win this season, winning 8-3 over Maria Maggiorini and Lauren Pfeiffer. Reka Kelemen and Liza Wischer were also triumphant in doubles, moving to 4-1 on the season.

"Our doubles started out a little flat today," said ISU head coach Michele Conlon. "The first couple games of each match started out a little slow. We were able to turn around and got on a roll at all three spots in order to come away with the wins and the doubles point."

In singles, the Cyclones won three of six matches. At the No. 1 spot, FGCU's Braniecka defeated Iowa State's Karonis, 6-0, 6-1. FGCU also won matches over Hickey at No. 2 singles and Palen at No. 4 singles. Loprinzi, a senior, was able to come back after two straight losses to Big 12 foes Baylor and Texas Tech to earn her first victory in the No. 3 slot. The Rochester, Minn., native and team captain was 6-0 at the No. 4 spot. She defeated Pfeiffer, 6-0, 6-1. To close out the match, Derouin and Wischer won their matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. The Cyclones were down 3-2 heading into the final two matches.

"I thought Chrissy and Liza did a good job under pressure at the end of their matches to close out the meet," said Conlon.

Iowa State will take on 53rd-ranked Dartmouth at approximately 3 p.m. CST Wednesday. The start time is pending, due to matches preceding Iowa State and Dartmouth's. Dartmouth is 8-1 on the season.