Women's tennis team has solid day at Region 8 Championships

The Eastern Florida State College women's tennis team had a solid first day at the Region 8 Women's Tennis Championships at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.

The Titans had two players advance to the final on Thursday morning with wins on Wednesday. It marks the first tie in program history that two players will play for titles.

At No. 2 singles, Simona Karlsson won the first set 6-3 but St. Petersburg's Rocio Brisa Zarate came back to win the second set 3-6 to force a third set. Karlsson would get down 4-1 in the third but stormed back, winning three straight points and clinch the win and a spot in the final.

Karlsson will play Hillsborough Community College's Esmee Andresen in the No. 2 singles final Thursday at 8 a.m. Andresen defeated SCF-Manatee's Sakurako Suzuki in straight sets.

Helena Jokanovic also picked up a win at No. 5 singles. Jokanovic lost the first set 6-3 against St. Petersburg's Kyoka Ueno but found her game in the second set and won 6-0 to force a third set. Jokanovic kept things rolling in the third set, winning 6-3 to advance to the championship match.

Jokanovic will play Hillsborough Community College's Camilla Mitolo for the No. 5 singles title at 8 a.m. Thursday. Mitolo beat St. Petersburg's Elena Saunders 6-0, 6-0.

Luisa Renovales forced a third set at No. 6 singles but could not pick up the win, falling to St. Petersburg's Ai Katsura 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 as the two players traded shots during long rallies for most of the match. Katsura pulled out the third set 6-4 to advance to the final.

Renovales, Emma Sanchez, Gloria Barcaro, Paige Noble Lucas will all play in third-place matches on Thursday morning.

The No. 3 doubles team of Noble Lucas and Lucia Lucas Martinez fell short in a tight second set, coming back from down 5-3 to tie it 5-5 before falling 7-5. But in the third-place match, the duo turned things around after a slow start against SCF-Manatee's Natasha Beader and Alexis Dunlap.

Down 5-2, Lucas and Martinez tied things at 5-5. They took a 7-6 lead and Martinez served for the win. The point went to deuce, but the Titans were able to hang on for the win to place third at No. 3 doubles.

The singles matches will begin at 8 a.m. at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs. In consolation matches Thursday, Sanchez will play Manatee's Ainara Vegal Rodriguez at No. 1 singles while Barcaro will play Manatee's Ainhoa Meili Fernandez at No. 3 singles and Noble Lucas faces Beader at No. 4 singles.