No. 14 Titans hit the road, top No. 16 Meridian

A few minor injuries caused a slight shake up in the Eastern Florida State College women's tennis lineup Friday, but it didn't stop the Titans from scoring an impressive victory in celebration of their highest national ranking in program history.

Playing on the road in Mississippi against unbeaten No. 16 Meridian Community College, the No. 14 Titans scored a 7-2 victory on the strength of some solid singles play.

Katharina Drebka, Giulianna Hull, Nicole Trio, Ann Kathrin Zilles and Naomi Villa combined to lose just seven games as EFSC won the first five singles matches.

Drebka and Trio won their No. 1 doubles match and Annaleigh Collings and Hull also won at No. 2 for the Titans.

Minor injuries kept Ana Cristina Orozco out of the lineup and Collings from playing singles.

"After an eight-game homestand, it's nice for the team to get out and travel for some inter-region play like this, which is valuable for us to sharpen our games and prepare for the final stretch of our season," Titans coach Jerry Thor said.

"I want to thank (Meridian) Coach (Wanda) McPhail for helping us make this trip happen. She's a Hall of Famer that runs a competitive and classy program."

Earlier this week, the Titans were ranked 14th in the nation in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll released on Thursday. It's the highest national ranking in the program's history. Last year's team got has high as 17th while finishing 4-9.

Friday's win improved EFSC's record this season to 9-6.

"It's nice to see the ITA recognize us as one of the nation's top 15 programs and we look forward to continuing to make improvements and represent the college to the best of our ability."

The Titans will travel 45 minutes to play No. 21 Hinds Community College on Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi.