Lady Ospreys suffer another narrow loss

Saturday, February 21

Birmingham, Ala.

1 p.m.

University of North Florida

Samford

Senior Ina Durcakova won 6-1, 6-1 in singles at No. 4

2/21/2009 8:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis

UNF slipped in a 4-3 decision to Samford on Saturday

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Suffering its second 4-3 loss in as many days, the University of North Florida women's tennis team left the state of Alabama after slipping in the top three singles positions to Samford on Saturday.

"We played better today, but we knew Samford would give us a big challenge," UNF head coach Rodrigo Puebla said. "The girls came out with high intensity today, but we need to step up as a team and play more consistently."

UNF (3-2) grabbed the doubles point to begin action when freshman Aline Berkenbrock and junior Raquel Castro posted an 8-4 win in the No. 1 position and sophomores Victoria Krook and Lauren Holton rolled to an 8-2 win to secure the point in the third slot.

After Samford (1-2) turned in wins at the Nos. 1, 2 and 5 positions and the Lady Ospreys posted wins at Nos. 4 and 6, the score stood at 3-3 with one result still outstanding.

Freshman Nikita van Lierop took Rebecca Kirven to three sets after dropping the opening set 6-1. She picked up a 6-2 win in set number two but couldn't complete the comeback and fell 6-3 in the final set.

"Today's match came down to the final result turned in," Puebla said. "Nikita played extremely well and was very close to giving us the win."

The Lady Ospreys will have only a handful of days to regroup before hosting Bethune-Cookman on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 20 at the UNF Tennis Complex, where UNF is 2-0 this season.