Tennis wins 2011 Sun Belt Championship

The FIU women’s tennis team claimed the program’s fifth Sun Belt Conference title with a 4-0 sweep of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (11-9) on Sunday, April 24, at University of South Alabama.

For the second-straight contest, sophomore Rita Maisak sealed the victory for the Panthers (13-6) to earn the team’s fourth point of the match. The native of Minsk, Belarus, defeated Mia Gordon, 6-3, 6-4, to improve to 10-7 on the year.

FIU claimed the first point of the match, winning the doubles portion, 2-1. UL took the first doubles match as the duo of Milou Israel and Briggitt Marcovich downed Maisak and Giulietta Boha, 8-5. The Panthers evened doubles play when seniors Liset Brito and Maria Spenceley defeated Audrey Wooland and Julie Mazinova, 8-6. Juniors Lisa Johnson and Christine Seredni clinched the doubles point with a 9-8 (3) victory over Mia Gordon and Sandra Alhqvist.

Entering singles play with a 1-0 advantage, FIU extended its lead following a 6-3, 6-1 win by Boha over Alhqvist. The victory gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead and moved the Wuerzburg, Germany, native’s spring record to 12-7. Brito, the 2011 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, gave FIU a 3-0 lead with her third victory of the tournament. The Miami, Fla., native defeated Mazinova, 6-0, 6-2, for her 62nd-career win at FIU (tied for No. 3 all-time at FIU). The Panthers closed out the contest with Maisak’s straight-set victory over Gordon, 6-3, 6-4.

With the victory, FIU earned its second conference title in the last three years and earned the team’s sixth NCAA Tournament berth in the last seven seasons. It also improved Head Coach Melissa Appleabaum-Dall’au’s career record to 46-20 and 8-1 all-time in the Sun Belt Tournament.
 The Panthers will next take part in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA Tournament selection announcement will take place on Tuesday, May 3, at 5:30 p.m. ET.