TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Clemson women’s tennis team dropped a 4-0 decision to 15th-ranked Florida State in a consolation match at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Tallahassee, Fla. on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 4-2 on the season, while the Seminoles improved to 4-1 with the win.
The Seminoles won the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3, in that order. At No. 1 doubles, the Tigers’ third-ranked duo of Marie-Alexandre Leduc and Fernanda Navarro was tied 5-5 with Florida State’s top doubles pair, Petra Hule and Carla Touly, when play was halted.
Florida State claimed wins at No. 3, 6 and 5 singles, in that order, to clinch the team victory. Leduc and Navarro were both in tight battles in singles play, as Leduc was closing in on forcing a third set (up 5-1 in the second) at No. 1, while Navarro had just dropped a very close first-set tiebreak at No. 2. Both of the Seminoles’ top two players are ranked in the ITA’s Top 125 singles poll.
HEAD COACH NANCY HARRIS QUOTE“It was another tough day for our team against the top-15 Seminole team. Our Tigers were more competitive today, at the 1 and 3 doubles positions and at the 1 and 2 singles positions. We have more work to do and we learned a lot about each player this weekend. Now, we must quickly regroup and prepare for two top-15 SEC schools coming this week.”
UP NEXTClemson hosts two top-15-ranked SEC opponents next week, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 5 Georgia. The Tigers face the Gamecocks on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility, and then the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m.
