LYNCHBURG, Va. - North Florida women's tennis is peaking at the right time and Thursday that upward trend continued as the Ospreys (13-8, 7-1 ASUN) won their seventh-straight match thanks to a wire-to-wire, 6-1, win against Liberty (17-6, 6-2 ASUN) April 14.
UNF is on its longest winning streak since last season, improving to 13-8 on the year and 7-1 in league play. The Ospreys haven't lost a match since March 20, putting North Florida in a position to finish no worse than third place in the ASUN Conference.
North Florida keeps pace with Stetson and FGCU in the ASUN standings, as all three teams improved to 7-1 with one match remaining on the season.
UNF 6, LIB 1
Thursday, April 14 | Liberty Tennis Center | Lynchburg, Va.
How it Happened
Summer Yardley and
Annabelle Davis were huge in securing the doubles point. Down 5-4 at the third slot, the duo won three-straight games to give UNF a point and the momentum.
The Ospreys didn't let up, racing ahead to one-set leads at four of the six singles courts.
Anslee Long was the first to finish, brushing off a loss in doubles to give UNF a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Micaela Ode Mitre.
Annabelle Davis and
Kit Gulihur finished within a few minutes of each other, giving UNF a 3-0 lead with dominant singles wins. Gulihur turned out to be the clincher, winning 6-0, 6-2 at the number one singles slot for her 20th win of the 2021-22 year.
Kendall Nash and
Summer Yardley added insurance points for UNF, winning all three tiebreakers in which the duo played.
Singles competition
1. #36
Kit Gulihur (UNF) def. M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) 6-0, 6-2
2.
Summer Yardley (UNF) def. Kalani Soli (LIBERTYW) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6)
3.
Annabelle Davis (UNF) def. Eloise Saraty (LIBERTYW) 6-3, 6-3
4. Esther Lovato (LIBERTYW) def.
Isabel Oliveira (UNF) 6-3, 6-4
5.
Anslee Long (UNF) def. Micaela Ode Mitre (LIBERTYW) 6-3, 6-2
6.
Kendall Nash (UNF) def. Tiffany Nguyen (LIBERTYW) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
Doubles Competition
1. #29
Kit Gulihur/
Ana Paula Melilo (UNF) def. M. Juliana P. Romero/Kalani Soli (LIBERTYW) 6-2
2. Willa Rogers/Eloise Saraty (LIBERTYW) def.
Isabel Oliveira/
Anslee Long (UNF) 6-1
3.
Summer Yardley/
Annabelle Davis (UNF) def. Tiffany Nguyen/Micaela Ode Mitre (LIBERTYW) 7-5
Match Notes
North Florida 13-8, 7-1 ASUN
Liberty 17-6, 6-2 ASUN
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,1,4,6,2)
Official: R Sanders/S Lunsford T-3:05
Other Notes
- UNF is guaranteed to be no lower than the three seed in the ASUN Championship and can be as high as the top seed.
- North Florida is 7-1, as is Stetson and FGCU with one match remaining in regular season play.
- The Ospreys hold the tiebreaker against Liberty and are ahead by a match in the win column.
- UNF won its first-ever match against Liberty. The Ospreys fell, 4-3, to the Flames in Lynchburg in 2019.
- Annabelle Davis and Kit Gulihur both reached 20 wins on the year if you take into account their fall totals.
- North Florida is on a seven-match winning streak
Up Next
UNF concludes the regular season at Bellarmine Saturday.