Miami Courant

Score: No. 2 Keiser 4, D-II No. 1 Barry 3

Records: Keiser (1-0), Barry (0-1)

Location: Miami Shores, Fla.

Venue: Buccaneer Tennis Center

MATCH SUMMARY

The No. 2 Keiser women's tennis started their season with a bang as they defeated the five-time defending Division II National Champions, Barry 4-3 on Wednesday. It was the first win by the Seahawks over the Buccaneers since 2005.

DOUBLES

• Barry took the early lead in the match on court three with a 7-5 win over Isabella Perez Flores and Yvette Schmucker.
• The Seahawks countered shortly after with a 7-5 win of their own on court two as Elyse Lavender and Vanja Vidanovic got their first win as a pair over (DII) No. 5 Daniela Farfan and Nathalia Gasparin.
•  With the point on the line, Violet Apisah and Ksenija Vujacic took the 7-6(4) win on court one over Deniz Khazan and Selina Pichler to secure the doubles point and the 1-0 lead in the match.

SINGLES

• No. 11 Perez Flores started the scoring on court six with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Angela Leweurs.
• Following a Bucs win on court three, Lavender made a splash with her first win as a Seahawk in a 6-1, 6-3 performance against DII, No. 1 Deniz Khazan.
• BU made it 3-2 on court five before No. 2 Schmucker clinched the match win over Selina Pichler with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.
• DII, No 25 Daniela Farfan would go on to outlast NAIA No. 1 Apisah, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4).

COACH'S CORNER

"Good start to the season today," said Head Coach, Daniel Finn, "Proud of the girls and the grit that they showed throughout the day against a premier program. From top to bottom, we didn't have close to our best level but continued to find ways to win the big points when it mattered. We knew that the doubles point would be key today and grabbing a point that was closely contested, swung the momentum in our favor. Today was one of the hotter days on the court, so the match quickly became physical but the girls really battled all the way and left it all out there, quite literally for one of them. I'll give a lot of credit to all the girls, but Elyse losing her lunch 2 different times and still battling like she did to beat the best player in Division II helped us set the tone during the match. She is not only one of the toughest girls I have coached but one of the toughest I have ever seen play. In the end, it's just one match and the start of a long season ahead. We still have a lot to work on, but it's a great place to start and kick things off. Now we will just try to rest up as best we can and get ready for another tough test coming up Saturday."

UP NEXT

The Seahawks will return to the courts on Saturday with a road trip to Division II, No. 3 Saint Leo at 2:00 p.m. in Saint Leo, Fla.

Original source can be found here.