Titan Women Record First Win on Home Courts

This one will go down as the day the Eastern Florida State College women's tennis team won its first true home match.

Despite playing without injured No. 1 singles player Katharina Drebka, the Titans cruised to an 8-1 victory over Florida State College Jacksonville Saturday at the new Titan Tennis Complex on the Melbourne Campus.

The highlight of the historic day was a match televised live on WEFS-TV. The No. 2 doubles team of freshman Giuliana Hull and sophomore Nicole Trio defeated Florida State College Jacksonville's Myiah Collier and Efrosina Kariqi 8-1.

"We are so grateful to have the support of the administration to host a televised match and appreciate the community that came out to see the women get their first home win on our campus courts," Titans coach Jerry Thor said.

EFSC's No. 1 doubles team of Annaleigh Collings and Ana Cristina Orozco defeated Amanda Cruz and Shannon Donaldson 8-5. The Titans made it a clean sweep in doubles when the No. 3 pairing of Veronica Gleich and Naomi Villa beat Sarah Hatcher and Brittany Stewart 8-4.

With Drebka nursing an ankle injury, the Titans all moved up a spot on the singles ladder.

In a thrilling match at the No. 1 spot, Hull rallied to defeat Hatcher 1-6, 6-0, 10-6.

"Giulianna got a solid win over a tough opponent who transferred in from a Division II program," Thor said. "After dropping a frustrating first set, she hit the reset button and she came out on fire. She works hard and I'm glad she got the win."

Trio, playing at No. 3, improved to 5-0 in singles this season with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Donaldson. In the No. 4 spot, it was EFSC's Ann-Kathrin Zilles beating Stewart 6-0, 6-1.

Collings topped Crews 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 and in the No. 6 spot, it was Gleich winning her first college singles match by blanking Collier 6-0, 6-0.

The Titans are 3-2 overall and 2-2 in NJCAA Region 8 play as they continue to show tremendous improvement in Thor's first season as head coach.

"FSCJ was top five in the country last year, and we have been able to grow our program to compete with them," Thor said. "The nature of junior college athletics makes it tough to win consistently, and we hope to join the ranks of teams here at EFSC that can compete every single year."

The Titans will face FSCJ in a rematch on Friday in Jacksonville.