CARY, N.C. – For the seventh-consecutive season, the Florida State women’s tennis team won its first round match of the ACC Championships. The seventh-seeded Seminoles (14-8) defeated 10th-seeded Wake Forest (3-19), 4-1 at the Cary Tennis Park.
Starting off in doubles, sophomore Kerrie Cartwright and Kristina Schleich gave the Seminoles the edge by delivering an 8-2 win on court three against Brigita Berecyte and Andrea Retolaza.
On court two, sophomore Mia Vriens and Amy Sargeant found themselves in an early 2-2 tie, before taking over the match against Xue Zhang and Karen Foreman. Vriens and Sargeant sealed the 1-0 lead with an 8-3 victory.
Play on court one was stopped once Florida State won the doubles point. Francesca Segarelli and Daneika Borthwick were ahead 7-6 against Kathryn Talbert and Kasey Gardner.
“I was pleased with how we came out today,” head coach Jennifer Hyde said. “After getting the doubles point, we did a good job of jumping out in front to quick and early leads in singles, especially on courts four, five and six.”
In singles, the Seminoles got out to five-of-six first set wins, showing their dominance in the bottom half of the lineup. On courts four through six, Florida State gave up four games in the first set between three players.
After those three first set triumphs, Vriens retired her match on court three to Garder in the first set, tying the dual 1-1.
Segarelli (No.96) controlled her match against Zhang on court two, defeating her 6-2, 6-1 putting the Seminoles up 2-1.
Within minutes of Segarelli’s win, Sargeant closed out her match against Foreman, 6-0, 6-4 for her 26th win on the year.
At this point, Florida State was in control of the remaining three matches left in play with a 3-1 lead, however the clinching match came from the racquet of Cartwright. She won 6-1, 6-3 on court five against Retoleza.
“The goal for today was to get those early leads,” Hyde said. “We wanted to take the wind out of their sails early and we were successful with that.”
The two matches left in play were on courts one and six.
On court one, Borthwick (No.57) won a tight first set, 6-4, before finding herself tied 4-4 with Talbert (No.110) in the second when the match was called. Schleich was battling on court six with a slight 3-2 edge in the second after winning the first 6-3.
Florida State advances to the quarterfinals and will play second-seeded Clemson at 12 p.m. on Friday. The Seminoles fell to the Tigers 5-2 earlier this year and are 8-22 in the all-time series. The ‘Noles have faced Clemson in the 1993 and 1994 ACC Tournaments, posting a record of 1-1.
“We competed well today,” Hyde said. “We have to prepare for a tough Clemson team. In March, we had a really good, tight match with them and I know it’s going to be a redemption day for us. The girls are excited to get out there and they’re ready to keep working towards that championship.”
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