FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Columbia women's tennis team opened its season with a win for the second straight year after defeating Florida Gulf Coast, 4-0 on Monday afternoon.
Columbia cruised through doubles play to start the match with a 1-0 advantage. The duo of
Sophia Strugnell and
Gayathri Krishnan teamed up in the No. 2 doubles to earn a 6-1 win over Paloma Goldsmith and Nora Svensson. The FGCU duo of Gabriela Macias and Anjali Kotcecha secured a 6-2 victory against
Emily Baek and
Sophia Wang in the No. 3 spot to even doubles play.
With all eyes on the top doubles match,
Fatima Keita and
Malak El Allami rolled to a 6-2 win over Isabella Colmenares and Ashley Matz to clinch the doubles point for Columbia.
The Lions continued to impress heading into singles play. El Allami, Krishnan and Wang posted singles victories to help Columbia polish off the 4-0 win to open the spring campaign.
Wang secured Columbia's first singles victory of the afternoon with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Macias in the No. 4 singles. El Allami followed that up by turning in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Colmenares in the No. 2 position. Krishnan clinched the Columbia victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the No. 3 spot against Kotecha.
Keita,
Winta Tewolde and Baek also joined the singles lineup to start the season, but their matches went unfinished as Columbia clinched the team victory.
RESULTS
Columbia 4, FGCU 0
Doubles
1.
Fatima Keita/
Malak El Allami (COL) def. Isabella Colmenares/Ashley Matz (FGCU) 6-2
2.
Sophia Strugnell/
Gayathri Krishnan (COL) def. Paloma Goldsmith/Nora Svensson (FGCU) 6-1
3. Gabriela Macias/Anjali Kotecha (FGCU) def.
Emily Baek/
Sophia Wang (COL) 6-2
Singles
1. Ashley Matz (FGCU) vs.
Fatima Keita (COL) 2-6, 6-2, 1-1, unfinished
2.
Malak El Allami (COL) def. Isabella Colmenares (FGCU) 6-3, 6-3
3.
Gayathri Krishnan (COL) def. Anjali Kotecha (FGCU) 6-3, 6-4
4.
Sophia Wang (COL) def. Gabriela Macias (FGCU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Nora Svensson (FGCU) vs.
Winta Tewolde (COL) 3-6, 2-5, unfinished
6. Paloma Goldsmith (FGCU) vs.
Emily Baek (COL) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
UP NEXT
Columbia returns to action Friday in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. ET against Washington in the first match of ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Lions will then play either UCLA or UCF on Saturday in the second match.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Women's Tennis by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsWTEN), Instagram (@culionswten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
