FGCU Women's Tennis Match vs USF preview

The FGCU women's tennis team is setting themselves to play USF at home.

Prior to the start of their season, FGCU began the spring season with a spring invite at home and played St. Johns, Northwestern State, and Utah. The invite does not count as part of the season for FGCU or the teams they played, however, it does count for overall wins in singles and doubles for ranking points in the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Last year, the Eagles were 12-9 overall with a 5-1 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-SUN) where they were the No. 2 seed before falling to No. 1 seed UNF in the conference tournament finals.

Leading the way for the Eagles is the head coach, Courtney Vernon, who is entering her fourth season as head coach.

Returning for her final season for the Eagles is senior captain Breana Stampfli. Stampfli is one of two returning upperclassmen for the team and former A-SUN Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year. Stampfli went 16-19 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Stampfli was also a member of the All-Conference Second Team her freshman year and All-Conference First Team her junior year.

The other returning players include junior Julianna Curtis and sophomores Julia Ascúa and Laura Falceto-Font.

Curtis was part of the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team and the A-SUN All-Academic Team her sophomore year.

Ascúa was unanimously selected to the A-SUN All-Conference First Team in singles, A-SUN Second-Team All-Conference in doubles, A-SUN All-Freshman Team and A-SUN All-Tournament Team her freshman year.

Falceto-Font was a member of the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team and joined Ascúa on the A-SUN All-Freshman for her freshman year.

The Eagles managed to get new members of the team to join including freshman Maja Ornberg from Sweden and freshman Sofia Perez, a late addition from Costa Rica, was also added to the team.

Transfer Sofia Blanno also joins the team as a sophomore from Auburn University.

Scouting USF:
Last year, the USF Bulls went 16-5 overall with a 4-1 record in conference.

They have lost three players including Chloe Murphy, who I know personally from SCF.

The Bulls did manage to recruit three freshmen come play for the team including Samantha Fine of Coral Springs, Florida.

A few of the key returners for the Bulls include senior Vera Bessonova, sophomore Ana Roman Dominguez and Junior Juliana Cardoso.

FGCU is looking for their first win against USF in program history. The last time the Eagles and the Bulls faced off, USF was victorious winning 7-0, extending their winning streak against FGCU in six straight matches.

The matches were originally set to start on Sunday at 2 p.m., however, due to inclement weather, the matches were changed from Sunday to Tuesday at 2 p.m.

There is a question for this matchup: Will USF extend their winning streak to seven straight meets against FGCU or will FGCU will against USF for the first time in program history?

The answer will be told on Jan 24th at 2 p.m.

Intro to the Blog

Hello fellow bloggers and sports enthusiasts,

My name is Patrick Clines or Pat as I'm normally called at times and this blog is about the sports that are happening during the spring semester at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).

Bio about me: I'm originally from Chicago, Illinois, but now I reside in Bradenton, Florida, where I have lived since I was nine. I graduated from "THE" Manatee High School in 2010.

I am 25 years "young" (Yes when students see me, they say I look like I'm 20 and when I tell them my age, they would be shocked. I would be shocked too if I found out I was that age).

I have grown up around sports since I was a kid and my family played different sports. I played basketball mostly in high school, my sister played softball, my mother played volleyball and softball in high school and my father played professional baseball in the 1970's.

I currently go to FGCU as a journalism major, but prior to FGCU, I was enrolled at a junior college called State College of Florida (SCF) as a music performance major doing choir and musical theatre, where I graduated with my associates degree in liberal arts and sciences.

When I was enrolled at SCF, I went to all five of the sports that they had and have been a "good luck charm" for all the athletes.

After I graduated from SCF, I took a year off from school to get job experience, and after nine months of work experience at a department store, I was finally enrolled at FGCU as a junior.

Originally, when I came to FGCU, I was initially enrolled as an music performance major, but when I found out the classes I need to take, I found it overwhelming, so journalism was my backup plan and stuck with it.

During my time with FGCU for my first year, I signed up as a Dirty Bird and would always go to every sporting event on campus ranging from volleyball to tennis. No matter where I go, whether it is on my way to class or by the sport complexes, I will run into an athlete and pretty much all the athletes at FGCU know me by my first name.

Aside from going to all the sporting events, I also like writing poetry, singing in choir or solos and I know American Sign Language (ASL) on the side.

So as you read this blog introduction, you now get the idea of what these blogs are all about.

Each blog will talk about the following sporting events that will take place throughout the school year.

While the blogs talk about each sport, it does not necessarily mean it will just be game coverage. It can also talk about the athletes I talk with, and the experiences they have with their sports or in life itself.

In addition, all photo and video credits in any form can vary from either a website or from the individuals in person that took the photos.

I will be posting blogs on the sports at FGCU.

During winter and summer break, I will be taking a brief hiatus until school starts, but if FGCU has sports continuing through the summer like baseball or softball, then it will continue until their seasons are finished.

photos above: Top left: me with now senior Breana Stampfli of the women's tennis team, top middle: me with now senior Andres "Andy" Alfonzo, top right: me with last years women's tennis team, bottom left: me with the last years men's tennis team, bottom right: me with this years women's tennis team after their FGCU Tennis Spring Invite