The Owls beat South Alabama 5-2, extending the streak to seven.

Gasner Delvarin Jr.

February 17, 2024

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic Lady Owls are off to one of the best start of their seasons. The Owls extended their winning streak to seven on Saturday by beating the South Alabama Jaguars 5-2 at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center.

The last time FAU had a similar kind of start was in 2012 when they lost their first game of that season, then won 7 in a row. 

With the Sun peaking through the clouds, FAU secured their first victory in the doubles game when sophomore Carla Galmiche and junior Lexi Silna defeated Manal Ennaciri and Lara Van der Merwe with a score of 6-2 on court two.

The Jaguars responded on court one with Tereza Dejnozkova and Elysia Pool defeating the juniors Victoria Gomez O'Hayon and Millie-Mae Matthews 6-1 to level the score on the board.

However, with the Owls' best single player so far this season, the freshman Panna Bartha, in a duo with the redshirt junior Amber McGinnis, topped Otoha Aoki and Delien Kleinhans of South Alabama 6-4 on court three to win doubles and gave FAU a 1-0 lead.

In singles, The Lady Owls did some quick work on courts four and five to push their lead to 3-0 as Silna triumphed over Kleinhans with a score of 6-2, 6-2, and McGinnis secured a straight-set win of 6-2, 6-3 over Merwe respectively.

On court one, Bartha, the American Athletic Conference player of the week honor, came through for FAU in three-set, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 against Dejnozkova to clinch victory for the Owls in the singles best of six.

The Hungarian Bartha is on a personal streak in singles with eight victories. She is the first Owl to receive the spring AAC tennis award.

FAU further solidified their win against South Alabama to 5-0 as Matthews claimed a victory of 6-2, 7-5 over Aoki on court five.

South Alabama managed to add their first point on board with Ennaciri, defeating Galmiche of FAU on court three with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and concluded the day with another point, as Pool emerged victorious from court two, defeating O'Hayon 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

With their dominance, FAU will take their winning streak on the road again against the University of North Florida on February 24. 

AAC, FAU, Sports, Top Stories, Gasner Delvarin Jr., Carla Galmiche, Panna Bartha, Victoria Gomez O'Hayon, Lexi Silna, Millie-Mae Matthews, Amber McGinnis, Women Tennis