WOMEN'S TENNIS WEEKLY:<br>Rumble matchup starts close of season

Wednesday, April 8

Jacksonville, Fla.

1:30 p.m.

University of North Florida

Jacksonville

Senior Ina Durcakova will take the court for three more matches as a Lady Osprey

WOMEN'S TENNIS WEEKLY:
Rumble matchup starts close of season

4/7/2009 11:53:40 AM | Women's Tennis

UNF vistis Jacksonville Tuesday and heads to Miami this weekend

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's tennis will visit the Jacksonville campus with a SunTrust River City Rumble point on the line today to complete its Atlantic Sun Conference slate before looking for a final push with a season-ending road trip to Miami this weekend.

Schedule

UNF (14-4, 7-2 A-Sun) at Jacksonville (8-10, 5-4) – Tuesday, April 7 – 2 p.m.

UNF at Florida Atlantic (6-15) – Thursday, April 9 – 3 p.m.

UNF at No. 43 Florida International (13-5) – Friday, April 10 – Noon

Inside the Matchups

A rumble point and a year's worth of bragging rights are the only thing at stake for Jacksonville today as the Dolphins have already secured the No. 3 seed into the A-Sun Tournament. JU wrapped up the third seed with a home win against Campbell Saturday, snapping a four-match losing streak that included a 7-0 loss at Central Florida. JU is 6-3 on its own court this season with losses to Tennessee-Martin, Stetson and Kennesaw State – three opponents UNF defeated handily.

If not ineligible due to NCAA reclassification rules, the Lady Ospreys would own the No. 4 seed into the A-Sun Tournament. UNF's two losses in league play came to the second and third-ranked teams (USC Upstate and East Tennessee State), while the Lady Ospreys knocked off A-Sun regular season champion Stetson, 5-2.

FAU owns only one victory in its last seven outings. The lone win came on March 17 in the form of a 5-2 decision against Massachusetts and broke a six-match skid. The Owls dropped a 4-0 match to Louisiana-Lafayette the last time out and will finish their regular season slate against the Lady Ospreys on Thursday. Playing all but three of its matches in Boca Raton, Fla., FAU is 6-11 on its own courts this season.

Conversely, FIU sports a 9-0 record at home, including wins over No. 33 South Carolina and No. 53 Ole Miss. The Golden Panthers currently boast an eight-match winning streak with their last losses coming back-to-back to No. 28 Texas and No. 32 Tulsa. Every FIU loss this season has come at the hands of a nationally-ranked opponent.

Looking Back

UNF rebounded from a disappointing weekend at ETSU and Upstate by notching two home wins and closing their home schedule with a perfect 11-0 record. After defeating Campbell Friday, the Lady Ospreys notched one of their most impressive wins of the season when they outlasted UCF, 4-3, on Saturday.

The Lady Ospreys have controlled in-state foes this season, racking up a 5-0 record against teams that call Florida home. This weekend's trip will be the first in-state trip other than today's match at JU for the Lady Ospreys this season.

Who's Hot

Freshman Aline Berkenbrock provided the deciding result in UNF's thrilling victory against UCF, sealing a three-set win at the top singles position. She finished last week with a 2-0 record in singles, also rolling to a straight set win against Campbell, and a 2-0 record in doubles (playing with junior Raquel Castro).

It took a comeback effort by the Lady Ospreys to gather the win against UCF. The Knights took a 3-1 lead by capturing the doubles point and Nos. 3 and 4 singles before sophomores Victoria Krook and Lauren Holton closed tight matches at the No. 5 and 6 position, respectively, to set up Berkenbrock's heroic opportunity.

Did you hear?

Head Coach Puebla on the SunTrust River City Rumble matchup: “It doesn't matter who has what record when we play against JU, it is always a tough match. The girls that are in their first season at UNF already know how intense the match will be and have heard the other players talk all season about how big the rivalry is.”

Puebla on a challenging season-ending weekend: “We've had a successful season, and this is an opportunity to challenge ourselves at the end of the season. If we continue to play the way we have shown we can, we will have a good chance of upsetting a nationally-ranked opponent in FIU.”