MIAMI (Oct, 14, 2011) --- The FIU women's tennis team opened the 2011-2012 season with a six-match sweep in singles competition during the first day of the 2011 Panther Invitational at the FIU Tennis Courts.
Freshman Nina Djordjevic picked up the team's first singles victory of the day, defeating Barry's Liz Vargas, 7-5, 6-1. The win was the first of Djordjevic's FIU career. Another newcomer, Karyn Guttormsen picked up her first Panther victory, downing Florida Gulf Coast's Zhoe Solaun, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Sarah McLean defeated Bettina Botha, 6-1, 6-2, while seniors Lisa Johnson (6-3, 6-2 winner over Gyanna Mandaic - FGCU) and Christine Seredni (6-3, 6-1 winner over Jen Evans - FGCU) and sophomore Giulietta Boha (6-2, 6-2 win over Morgan Bechtel - FGCU) each claimed victories.
Earlier in the day, FIU split its doubles matches as the tandem of Johnson and McLean defeated Barry's Akemi Maehama and Cristina Valladares, 8-2, and the duo of Seredni and Guttormsen fell to Barry's Julie Stas and Caroline Wendling, 8-3.
The Panthers will continue the weekend tournament, facing North Florida in singles play, beginning at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. FIU will the face Florida Gulf Coast in doubles competition at 11 a.m.
Complete tournament results are located at www.FIUSports.com.
Tennis Tournament Results
2011 Panther Invitational
Oct 14, 2011 at Miami, Fla.
Singles competition
Flight 1 Berkenbrock, Aline (North Florida) def. Wendling, Caroline (Barry University) 6-1, 6-0
Flight 1 Aviles, Lorena (North Florida) def. Mansour, Mona (Barry University) 4-6, 6-4, retired
Flight 1 Valladares, Cristina (Barry University) def. Day, Danielle (North Florida) 7-5, 7-6 (12-10)
Flight 1 Maehama, Akemi (Barry University) def. Aquirre, Melanie (North Florida) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
Flight 1 Stas, Julie (Barry University) def. Weymar, Simona (North Florida) 6-1, 6-1
Flight 1 Djordjevic, Nina (FIU Panthers) def. Vargas, Lizbeth (Barry University) 7-5, 6-1
Flight 2 Seredni, Christine (FIU Panthers) def. Evans, Jen (Florida Gulf Coast) 6-3, 6-1
Flight 2 Johnson, Lisa (FIU Panthers) def. Mandic, Gyanna (Florida Gulf Coast) 6-3, 6-2
Flight 2 Boha, Giulietta (FIU Panthers) def. Bechtel, Morgan (Florida Gulf Coast) 6-2, 6-2
Flight 2 McLean, Sarah (FIU Panthers) def. Botha, Bettina (Florida Gulf Coast) 6-1, 6-2
Flight 2 Guttormsen, Karyn (FIU Panthers) def. Solaun, Zhoe (Florida Gulf Coast) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
Flight 1 Stas, Julie/Wendling, Caroline (Barry University) def. Seredni, Christine/Guttormsen, Karyn (FIU Panthers) 8-3
Flight 1 Johnson, Lisa/McLean, Sarah (FIU Panthers) def. Maehama, Akemi/Valladares, Cristina (Barry University) 8-2
Flight 1 Berkenbrock, Aline/Aviles, Lorena (North Florida) def. Mandic, Gyanna/Evans, Jen (Florida Gulf Coast) 8-0
Flight 1 Day, Danielle/Aquirre, Melanie (North Florida) def. Botha, Bettina/Lipman, Laura (Florida Gulf Coast) 8-2
Tournament notes
Day One of the 2011 Panther Invitational
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 46,000 students in two campus and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.
