LAKELAND, Fla. - The capstone of a grueling week of matches for the Fire concluded with the No. 1 Keiser Seahawks. Despite battling hard, the Fire fell 4-0, in what is only their second loss to an NAIA program.
The Fire fell behind early in doubles, dropping flights one (6-2) and three (6-2) to the Seahawks, all of whose teams were ranked nationally. Southeastern was also trailing on flight two (4-3) when the doubles play was concluded.
Singles play was where the Fire made the most noise. Eloise de Mooij of Keiser took downÂ
Neleah Neiberline on line three (6-1, 6-1). The Seahawks Vanja Vidanovic followed suit with her own 6-1, 6-1 victory at line six over
Isabella Forcella.Â
Before the final bell sounded, SEU's
Isabella Bolivar Garces held a one set lead over Keiser's Cato Tangkau, 6-4, 2-3, at line two. The Fire's
Irene Parigi continued on her excellent freshman campaign, taking the first set from Liza Velykorodna at line four, 7-5.
Southeastern's
Alessia Ciampi was heading to a third set with Isabela Mercante, 6-3, 3-6 at line five. The match ended with the NAIA No. 1 player, Violet Apisah, claiming a straight sets victory over
Carlotta Nonnis Marzano, 6-4, 6-0, at the top line.
"Keiser is number one in the nation for a reason," said head coach
Drew Dickens. "But I thought our women played extremely well. We had taken sets at two, four, and five, and were making it extremely competitive. Our ladies are good, and I look forward to seeing how we will continue to grow the rest of the season."
With the loss, SEU drops to 13-5 (2-1 SUN), while Keiser improves to 11-2 (3-0 SUN). Today's match was the fifth NAIA-ranked opponent the Fire faced in the past week and they ended the week an impressive 4-1.Â
The Fire get a well-deserved break before the season continues next weekend, as they head south to Ave Maria University on Friday at 1 p.m.
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