TALLAHASSEE – The Florida State women’s tennis team earned a 4-3 win over North Florida on Sunday at Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.
“You have to find a way to win, even not feeling good and not striking the way we’re capable of striking,” head coach Jen Hyde said. “That’s tennis, you’ve got to find a way to win. You are going to have five days where you can beat anybody and the rest you’re going to have to work to win, and we did that today. It was not easy. UNF came in and they wanted to win, and they pushed our backs against the wall.”
Florida State swept doubles to get off to a fast start against North Florida. Sophomore Olympe Lancelot and freshman Millie Bissett dominated Court No. 3, winning 6-0 and putting FSU in position to win the doubles point. Ellie Schoppe and Kianah Motosono clinched the doubles point for the Seminoles following their 6-3 win on Court No. 2.
Freshman Kristyna Lavickova doubled the Noles lead after her straight-sets victory 6-4, 6-3 on Court No. 5 gave Florida State the first singles point of the match.
Senior Vic Allen’s 6-1, 7-5 straight-sets victory put Florida State ahead 3-0 in the match. Allen trailed 5-1 in the second set before winning six straight games to clinch the third point for the Seminoles.
“Vic is nails,” Hyde said. “She is down sometimes but never out. That was a huge momentum swing down the courts as Vic went from 1-5 down to 2-5 down and then tying it at 5-all, we were confident she could finish it. That was critical. That moment was huge for the momentum in the match. She took a big responsibility today on her shoulders and did a great job finishing.”
Wins by 107th-ranked Kit Gulihur and Annabelle Davis extended the match and cut the Noles lead to 3-2, but Florida State would only require a victory on one of two remaining courts to get the win.
Alice Amendola’s 6-3, 7-5 win on Court No. 6 sealed the win for the Seminoles. Amendola fell behind 3-0 early in set two before tying the set 3-3. Amendola found herself defending set point at 4-5 before storming back, winning three straight games, the set and the match for Florida State 7-5.
“She is total nails,” Hyde said. “It was so great that she gets an opportunity down there on Court 6 to get the fourth point on the board. She’s one of the tougher people you’ll find on the tennis court. She’s a tough out and she’s got a lot of resolve and she stays as good as anyone in the…