Florida Atlantic Women's Tennis won 11 straight games after defeating University of Pennsylvania.
The Florida Atlantic University Women's Tennis team defeated the University of Pennsylvania 4-3 to win 11 consecutive games.
FAU freshman Panna Bartha with a forehand attack during the first set match against Esha Velaga of Penn on Thursday, Mar. 7, 2024. (Photo/Gasner Delvarin Jr.)
Gasner Delvarin Jr.
March 9, 2024
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic Lady Owls (11-1, AAC 4-0) defeated the University of Pennsylvania Quakers (10-5) Friday at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center.
The game was initially scheduled on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. but started at 12:15 p.m. due to rainy conditions earlier.
The Lady Owls started doubles play and did quick work.
On court 3, the duo of Panna Bartha and Amber McGinnis got to work and won 6-0 against the Quakers pair Sasha Motlagh and Maya Urata.
The Owls secured doubles on court 1 with Victoria Gomez O'Hayon and Millie-Mae Matthews, who also did not waste time and defeated Gavriella Smith and Esha Velaga of Quakers 6-0.
The Quakers intensified their game in the singles play and challenged the Owls to tough matches on most of the six courts in the first sets.
Penn won three first-set matches with Velaga, Eileen Wang, and Urata. On the other hand, Millie-Mae Matthews won a set for FAU.
After an hour and 35 minutes of play, the rain interrupted the matches, including two games in progress in the first set.
The matches resumed the following day at 11:00 a.m., and the Quakers carried their momentum to win match 3 with Gavriella Smith 7-5, 6-0 to tie the game at 1-1.
However, the Owl Matthews also won in 2 straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 against Saige Roshkoff.
FAU turned it into gears when O'Hayon came back from a set down to win match #2, 0-6, 6-2, 6-4, defeating Wang for a 3-1 lead over Penn.
Although the Quakers were trailing 3-1, they remained a threat to the Owls and managed to win matches 6 and 4, respectively.
Urata beat McGinnis 6-3, 6-2, and Liza Tkachenko defeated Lexi Silna 7-5, 6-4 to tie the game at 3-3.
All eyes turn to Court 1 with the game in the balance. The Owls found themselves in the best situation possible as their best player looking to clinch victory.
Bartha started slow on Thursday for FAU and went down in the first set. But after winning her previous ten matches, she was not ready to taste defeat.
The Hungarian Bartha mounted a comeback in a back-and-forth against Velaga to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the 4-3 victory for the Owls.
The freshman Bartha remains undefeated in the past 11 singles matches, contributing to FAU's 11 consecutive victories.
It has been 22 years since the Lady Owls last reached that milestone in Spring 2002. They achieved this from a run that started on February 24 and ended on March 30.
Fast forward to this year, the Owls began this streak on January 27 against the Stetson and may have the opportunity to extend it the next game.
The Florida Atlantic University women's tennis team will face another tough challenge against Yale University (9-3), attempting to extend their record to a 12-match winning streak at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center on Thursday, March 14, at 11 a.m.
AAC, FAU, Gasner Delvarin Jr., Lady Owls, Panna Bartha, Sports, Top Stories, Women Tennis, Victoria Gomez O'Hayon, Millie-Mae Matthews, Carla Galmiche, Amber McGinnis, Sasha Motlagh, Maya Urata, Esha Velaga, Eileen Wang, Gavriella Smith, Saige Roshkoff, Penn