Results
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Sophomore
Erika Fridrik cruised to her first singles victory of the spring as the Eckerd College women's tennis program contested 24th-ranked New York Institute of Technology on Wednesday afternoon, 8-1.
Play was delayed nearly an hour from the originally-scheduled start time of 11 a.m. at the Turley Athletic Complex following intermittent rainfall throughout the morning
With new regional rankings released today by the ITA, the Bears (17-2 overall) retained their foothold as the top team in the East Region and rolled out a pair of nationally-ranked singles standouts against the Tritons (1-7 overall).
Fridrik was one of three singles contests to play to an 8 game pro-set format, or a race to win eight games. She finished off an 8-2 decision in the No. 5 position against NYIT's Valeria Savina to account for EC's point in the team score.
Fridrik teamed with sophomore
Gipson Hawn against the No. 15 nationally-ranked (No. 1 in East Region) tandem of Nelly Ciolkowski and Madalina Florea in the top doubles flight, eventually falling by an 8-1 score.
NYIT's Savina and Gaby Rodriguez had all they could handle EC sophomore
Taylor Bullock and senior
Amanda Teets, barely holding off the Triton duo in an 8-6 back-and-forth tiebreak for a 9-8 final in the last doubles matchup to walk off the court.
Bullock and Teets each completed their respective singles matches in the 8 game pro-set format.
Ciolkowski anchored the deep Bears' singles rotation coming in ranked seventh nationally. Also joining her in the national rankings at 46th overall was Sara Burinato. Together, they are also ranked first and second in the East Region.
Florea claimed her decision in straight sets to complete the NYIT singles sweep on the afternoon.
Next on the schedule, the Tritons resume their eight-game homestand with a non-conference battle against Merrimack (Mass.) College on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
