MTSU women’s tennis magic ran out, falling to reigning Conference USA champions Florida International University in the semi-finals.
The Panthers came out swinging in doubles play on courts one and two to take the doubles point. FIU never trailed on court two as Jelena Vico and Vittoria Baccino took a 6-3 victory.
MTSU won the first two games on court one and battled to a 3-3 tie before Florida International won three straight games to take the court and the doubles’ point.
Singles played out in similar fashion for the Blue Raiders against New Mexico State except, the lower courts were unable to come from behind to clinch the win.
MTSU’s Lena Peyer fell 6-1, 6-4 on court one while Zora Koenig on two fell 6-3, 6-4.
The Blue Raiders mounted a comeback on courts three, four and five with all courts dropping the first set.
Sthefany Lima dropped the first set 6-2 but was leading by three games in the second set 5-2 before play was stopped. The same was true for Sara Conde and Sadbaroy Kholdarova.
Conde lost 6-1 in the first set, then was a game away from winning the second set. Kholdarova had the closest first set forcing an extra game before falling 7-5. The second set saw the junior lead 4-2
The comeback was cut short when Aleksandra Simeva defeated Zenn Lim on court six 6-4, 6-3.
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