Troy women’s tennis rolls in the Sunshine State

Over the weekend, the Troy women’s tennis team took down two former Sun Belt foes, Florida Atlantic and Florida International, on its road trip through the Sunshine State.

The Lady Trojans (3-1) extended their win streak to three, beating both the Panthers (1-1) and the Owls (3-2) by a score of 4-3. On Friday, Jan. 29, Troy won its last three singles matches to complete its comeback over FIU.

In doubles, Troy lost the first line, but won lines two and three 6-4 to take the doubles point. Sophomores Jiayuan Xue and Erfiliya Herlina took down one Panther duo, while the other sophomore duo of Sanae Ohta and Nancy Karaky won in line three.

FIU took sets one, five and two, leading the Trojans 3-1. The Trojans rallied from there, including a victory over nationally ranked No. 69 Nerma Caluk.

Herlina won the tough ranked match, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, and freshman Luisa Ferrauti took her line six singles match in two tiebreaker sets, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3).

Ohta won the last match 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, giving the Trojans the win.

The next day, Troy traveled up I-95 from Miami to Boca Raton, Florida, where it met similar results against FAU. The main difference in the two games was the doubles point.

While Troy won it on Friday, the Owls took it on Saturday.

Of the three doubles matches, only the team Xue and Herlina won one for Troy.

Xue beat FAU’s Lyndsey Boos 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, to tie things up, but Ohta beat Ana Gutierrez 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 to break the tie. Herlina won over Marisa Ruiz 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), and the Trojans led 3-1.

In a tough match, FAU’s Heather Walton took down Ferrauti 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Freshman Hanna Seizer also lost her match to Jazz Whitaker, 6-2, 7-6, and the Owls brought the match score even.

With the game on the line, Karaky took on Bianca Biglione.

Karaky lost the first set 1-6 but dominated the second two 6-2, 6-1, giving the Trojans their third win of the season.

The women’s tennis team will return home for its first game in Troy, when Alabama State comes to town on Friday, Feb. 5. The match at the Lunsford Tennis Complex will begin at 2 p.m.