"First of all, I want to thank every single person that came out to support use today. We are sorry that we couldn't come out with the win, but each person's presence was huge," said UNF head coach Mariana Cobra. "Secondly, hats off to FGCU for walking away with the win. We didn't play great doubles and were still able to pull a great comeback and get the point. Honestly in singles, we took care of business right away in two courts and those were the courts we won."
The Ospreys would fight back as the duo of sophomore Lucia Montano and freshman Eva Nyikos defeated senior Julianna Curtis and junior Laura Falceto Font by a score 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
After three match point chances, the duo of junior Julia Ascua and sophomore Maja Ornberg fell 6-7 (7-9) to junior Rafaela Gomez and senior Luise Intert in a heart-breaking decider at No. 1 doubles, giving UNF the doubles point.
Going into singles, Gallegos would be the first Eagle to fall as she lost 4-6, 1-6 to Montano at the No. 3 singles. Falceto Font would follow, losing 1-6, 2-6 to Intert in No. 4 singles.
With the score 3-0 in favor of UNF, the Eagles attempted to mount a strong comeback as sophomore Bridget Forster would open with her sixth straight win as she defeated Rossi 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Ascua would follow with a win of her own at No. 2 singles defeating Nyikos 6-3, 7-5.
With two matches left for both teams, the Eagles were able to tie the matchup as Ornberg, who was slightly down in the second set, bounced back to claim her 12th win (6th straight) of the season, winning 6-3, 6-4 against Gomez at No. 1 singles.
The decider came down to Mariotto and sophomore Sofia Perez at the No. 5 singles match. Having not played UNF at all for conference last season, Perez would drop the first set, but was able to mount a strong comeback to win in the second set, sending the match to a third set.
Seemingly unfazed at the result, with the final score at 40-30 in favor of Perez, the Costa Rican managed to secure the final set as she won 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. This was Perez's second time that she secure the final match for a win.
"For the other courts that we lost, we were not by any means the weaker player, we simply didn't compete as well and FGCU wanted it more in those spots. As heartbreaking as it was to lose after being up, we must let it go and move on. It is key for us to come ready for every practice and I know we will bounce back in the tournament," said Cobra.
“I am really proud of this team, and the fight they show,” said head coach Courtney Vernon. “North Florida is always tough. We are excited for another opportunity to compete on Saturday, and we are so excited to honor Julianna (Curtis).”
The Eagles return to action at home to wrap up their final conference match as they face Stetson on April 14 at 5 P.M. The match will be listed as Senior Day as the team recognizes 2017 ITA Scholar-Athlete, 2016 A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member, two-time A-SUN All-Academic Team honoree and defending A-SUN Scholar Athlete of the Year: Julianna Curtis.
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