AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Fire bounced back in a big way on Friday. Southeastern University took control early in the match and went on for a 4-0 victory over Ave Maria University today in South Florida.
After SEU took the doubles point, the Fire's Isabella Bolivar Garces blanked her second-singles opponent before Alessia Ciampi and Irene Lopez finished it out for the win.
Lopez teamed with Neleah Neiberline in a dominant third-doubles matchup against Ave Maria's Maria Hofmeister and Abigail Rich by a 6-0 final.
Bolivar Garces joined Irene Parigi to complete the doubles team point with a 6-3 final over Danna Nunez/Elizabeth Pince.
Moving over to singles play, Bolivar Garces did not give up a game with identical sets of 6-0 over the Gyrenes' Mariangel Nunez.
Alessia Ciampi was right behind her teammate for the third Fire win. She prevailed over Rich 6-3, 6-0.
Lopez returned to the lineup and made the most of it as she took away a 6-3, 6-1 sixth singles win over Hofmeister.
In the unfinished matches, SEU's top doubles pair of Ciampi and Carlotta Nonnis Marzano held a 4-3 advantage over Ave Maria's Clara Penido/Mariangel Nunez.
Marzano completed the first set of the top singles action via the tiebreaker, 7-6 (11-9), over Penido.
Irene Parigi was ahead in the third singles spot. She took the first set (4-6) to Danna Nunez, and led early in the second set, 2-1, when the play was halted.
In the final singles match, Isabella Forcella, like Parigi, was on her way to even the match when it was stopped. Hofmeister won the first set for the Gyrenes by a 7-5 score, but Forcella held a 3-1 lead in the second set.
With the victory, the Fire improve to 14-5, earning their eighth shutout of the year and their sixth victory in seven matches.
SEU now makes the morning trip to Hialeah for a 10 a.m. first serve against Florida National University tomorrow.
