Women’s tennis faces Princeton May 8 in NCAA Coral Gables Regional

FIU women's tennis has won four of the last five Sun Belt Conference Championships, including this year.

The FIU women’s tennis received its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament invitation when the Golden Panthers were selected to play against Princeton in the opening round on Friday, May 8, in Coral Gables.

Host Miami will take on Army in the other match, with the two first-round winners meeting on the Hurricanes’ home courts, Saturday, May 9.

The pick was no surprise for the No. 29-ranked Golden Panthers, after they were awarded the Sun Belt Conference’s automatic berth by virtue of their team championship last weekend in Denton, Texas. But anticipating the opponent and site is almost always as thrilling as the night before Christmas for a group of young women ready to carry the FIU athletics banner.

“It’s always exciting and amazing every time you see FIU mentioned on national television,” said sophomore Liset Brito, who watched the ESPNews selection show with her teammates and a group of well-wishers at FIU Stadium’s Stadium Club.

“We’re ready to go out and play against anybody,” Brito said. “Playing in Coral Gables is an advantage, too. Having the support of our fans and parents, who will be able to attend and cheer us on, is always a positive feeling.”

FIU is no stranger to the UM courts. It will mark the third time in four seasons that the Golden Panthers have been placed in the Coral Gables Regional. Last year, FIU lost to Notre Dame, 4-1, in the first round. In 2006, FIU upset Iowa, 4-1, before falling to host Miami in the round of 32.

FIU goes into its first-round match as the higher seed. After clinching the program’s eighth Ivy League title, Princeton (18-7) is the top-rated team of a trio of league members at No. 42. The Tigers have been in the top 75 for the entire spring season with a high of 39 in the March 17 poll and a low of  #62 on January 29.

Princeton also has nationally-ranked players with freshman Lauren McHale ranking 118th, while sophomore Taylor Marable and freshman Hilary Bartlett are ranked #45 in doubles.

The Golden Panthers enter the Regional on a 13-match win streak, which ties for the fourth longest in program history. Under first-year head coach Melissa Applebaum, FIU boasts a pair of ranked singles players in #73 Brito and freshman Mariana Muci (#90) and the ranked doubles team of Brito and junior Priscilla Castillo (#73). Muci is coming off a superb showing at the Sun Belt Conference Championships where she was named Most Outstanding Performer.

“Princeton is definitely a very good team as their national ranking will attest. They are certainly no one that we can look past,” said Applebaum, who stood afterwards soaking in the realization that her very first NCAA Tournament as a head coach would take place on the same courts where she earned All-American honors as a collegian.

“Right now, I feel very excited for our team. I believe we are a team to be reckoned with and we’re all looking forward to the opportunity.”