Live Scoring JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's tennis team hosts conference leader Stetson Thursday in a crucial Atlantic Sun Conference match at 10:00 a.m. The match puts the conference's top two teams against each other at the UNF Tennis Complex.
"Stetson is always a feisty team that competes hard against us, so we are expecting a tough battle on every court on Thursday," said head coach
Audra Cohen. "Our goal is to be fearless and composed from start to finish and we will evaluate this match on how well we were able to do this."
Thursday's match could have a huge implication on seeding for the Atlantic Sun Tournament that's scheduled for Apr. 17-19 at the UNF Tennis Complex. The top two seeds in the Tournament receive first-round byes. UNF, Stetson, and Florida Gulf Coast all have 4-0 records going into this week.
The Ospreys have an overall record of 12-3 and have shutout three of their four conference opponents. UNF comes off an impressive win on Saturday, defeating USC Upstate 6-1 to clinch an Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament berth.
Michelle Valdez has played strong for the Ospreys and currently has a 13-match winning streak in singles competition.
Esther Zuniga and
Luise Intert all have 10 or more wins overall in singles this spring, while
Quetzali Vazquez leads the Ospreys with 21 overall wins in singles.
Stetson is currently 14-2 overall and remains undefeated in the Atlantic Sun after a 4-3 win over Lipscomb on Saturday. With that win, Stetson earned an Atlantic Sun Tournament bid. Alizee Michaud, who is ranked No. 74 in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, leads the way for the Hatters, going 13-0 at No.1 singles this spring. She joins Carolina Meregalli, Eveline Lepinay, Isabella Fernandez, and Ashley Dean as the five Hatters with 10 or more wins in singles.
North Florida and Stetson last met in last year's Atlantic Sun Tournament semifinals, with No. 4 seeded Stetson defeating the No. 1 seed Ospreys 4-3, and ending UNF's streak of reaching the Atlantic Sun Championship match. The Ospreys made the conference title match each of the previous four years.
Admission is free to all UNF home matches.
