Harris Wins 100th ACC Match as Clemson Upsets No. 16 FSU

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The 23rd-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team upended No. 16 Florida State, 5-2, at the Speicher Tennis Center in Tallahassee, FL on Friday afternoon. The win was the 100th career conference victory for Clemson Head Coach Nancy Harris, and the 69th victory in her career over a top-25 team. Clemson improved to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while FSU fell to 8-2, and 1-1 in league play.  “I was really happy to get the first win against a team ranked ahead of us,” said Harris. “We’re playing such a tough schedule, so it’s really important to get a win against teams ranked ahead of us, and that was really good for the girls. After you lose the doubles point, you learn a lot about your team, and our girls showed their fighter’s spirit.” Clemson has played seven of their eight matches this season against top-25 competition, and bounced back after dropping the doubles point to win five singles matches on Friday. The Tigers have now won 12 straight matches against the Seminoles in the series, and hold a 29-8 lead all-time.  “I think that our matches against Stanford and Florida last week really helped us,” said Harris. “We realized how long we need to stay in points, and we are really willing to battle. That’s what it took to get it done today. The courage of this team and heart and discipline was good. We didn’t over-play today. I thought we played within ourselves.”  Clemson earned the first doubles as Ani Miao and Liz Jeukeng won on court three, 8-5. However, Florida State won on courts one and two, 8-6 to take the 1-0 lead.  That shifted play to singles, where the Tigers shined. Freshman Tristen Dewar won her match over Kristina Schleich, 6-1, 6-3 to knot up the match on court six.  Yana Koroleva, who is ranked 27th in the nation, defeated No. 37 Daneika Borthwick at flight one, 6-4, 6-3. Borthwick is the reigning ACC Player of the Week, and was coming off a win in FSU’s upset over then-No. 11 Miami last week.  Amy Sargeant then defeated Romy Koelzer, 6-4, 7-6, on court four to again tie the match at 2-2, and send the decision to Jeukeng on court two, Gumulya on court three, and Miao on court five.  Jeukeng, ranked 29th nationally, dropped her first set to No. 118 Mia Vriens, before storming back to take the final two sets, 6-1, 6-3. Jeukeng has rocketed up the national rankings. She enrolled in January, and ascended to 29th in just eight matches, and is now 7-2 on the season, with six of her wins against ranked teams.  Freshman Ani Miao then clinched the match with a lengthy, 6-3, 7-6 win on court five against Kerrie Cartwright. Miao trailed in the match, but came back to clinch it for the Tigers.  With the match already decided, No. 44 Beatrice Gumulya improved to 24-2 in her last 26 matches overall with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 win on court three over No. 72 Fancesca Segarelli. Segarelli led, 4-1 in the third set before Gumulya came back for the win. She improved to 13-2 this season, and has ascended to a career-best ranking.  Clemson will travel to Miami on Saturday and take on the 15th-ranked Hurricanes on Sunday at 12:30 pm in Coral Gables, FL.  Final Score: #23 Clemson def. #16 Florida State, 5-2 Tallahassee, FL – Speicher Tennis Center – Mar. 1, 2013 Records: Clemson: 4-4, 2-0 ACC; Florida State: 8-2, 1-1 ACC Doubles 1. Schleich/Segarelli (FS) def. Dewar/Gumulya (CU), 8-6 2. Borthwick/Cartwright (FS) def. Koelzer/Koroleva (CU), 8-6 3. Jeukeng/Miao (CU) def. Sargeant/Vriens (FS), 8-5 Order of finish: 3,1,2* Singles: 1. #27 Yana Koroleva (CU) def. #37 Daneika Borthwick (FS), 6-4, 6-3 2. #29 Liz Jeukeng (CU) def. #118 Mia Vriens (FS), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 3. #44 Beatrice Gumulya (CU) def. #72 Francesca Segarelli (FS), 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 4. Amy Sargeant (FS) def. Romy Koelzer (CU), 6-4, 7-6 5. Ani Miao (CU) def. Kerrie Cartwright (FS), 6-3, 7-6 6. Tristen Dewar (CU) def. Kristina Schleich (FS), 6-1, 6-3 Order of finish: 6,1,4,2,5*,3