Norfolk, Virginia (April 22, 2018) – No. 1 seed FIU won its first Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship Sunday afternoon in Norfolk, Va. The Panthers, who are ranked No. 37 in the Oracle/ITA National Tennis Rankings, defeated No. 2 seed and No. 43 Rice, 4-3, to earn an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship.
 
FIU won the doubles portion of the match to take a 1-0 lead. The duo of Nerma Caluk and Andrea Lazaro defeated Rice's Priya Niezgoda and Fernanda Astete, 6-4. Following the first win of the day, Maryna Veksler and Ulyana Grib, currently ranked at No. 26 in the Oracle/ITA national doubles rankings defeated No. 44 Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang, 6-2.
 
In singles play, Mina Markovic lost to Rice's Savannah Durkin 6-2, 6-0 to bring the Owls within, 1-1. Lazaro gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Hodge. Lazaro, ranked at No. 9 in the latest Oracle/ITA national singles rankings won her 26^th match of the season and her 14^th in dual matches. After Lazaro's win, Rice won the next two singles points. Sandra Bozinovic lost at the No. 3 position against Michaela Haet 6-2, 7-6 and Nerma Caluk fell to Anna Bowtell 6-4, 7-6. Grib defeated Rice's Zhang, 6-4, 6-4 tying the match, 3-3. 
 
Veksler won the deciding point of the match for the Panthers as she defeated Rice's Astete, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, earning the championship point. 
 
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Veksler said after clinching the point for the team. "We've worked so hard, and it's so great to finally become a champion."
 
"I am very proud of my team for fighting until the end," FIU head women's tennis coach Katarina Petrovic said. "We executed the game plan in doubles, and we believed from the beginning that we could win."
 
The Panthers earned the automatic bid in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship. The NCAA Women's Tennis Selection show is set for Tuesday, May 1 and individual selections will be announced the following day via press release. Fans can catch the team selection show on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. CT.

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