Saturday, February 15, 2003

FIU falls hard to No. 35 Harvard, 7-0

he Golden Panthers (1-5) fell to No. 35-ranked Harvard, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at the University Park courts.

The FIU No. 1 doubles team of Mei Ly and Bruna Discordia upset No. 31 Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman, 8-4, but the Crimson's Eva Wang and Melissa Anderson evened the match, claiming No. 3 against Davina Duronio and Courtney Jonson, 8-1.

Harvard (3-1), however, claimed the doubles point when No. 44 Sanja Bajin and Alexis Martire beat Desanka Jovanovic and Christine Suard, 8-6.

The Crimson swept through singles, with No. 19 Bergman defeating Jovanovic, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1. Harvard grabbed the advantage early by taking the first sets in matches 1-5.

At No. 3, with No. 53 Martire up, 6-3, FIU's Discordia came back in the second set, 6-4, before Martire took charge with a 6-3, set and match victory. Bajin took a 7-5, first-set lead at No. 4 against Suard who tied that match with a 6-4, second-set win. But Bajin won 10-5 in the third to preserve the shutout.

FIU had the early advantage at No. 6 where Jonson took the first set against Anderson, 7-5, in an all-Australia battle. But the Harvard freshman came back with the win, 6-0, 6-2.

The Golden Panthers take on in-state Stetson, Sunday at 11 a.m. on the University Park courts.

Final: No. 35 Harvard 7, No. 64 FIU 0 Miami, Fla. Doubles 1. Discordia/Ly (FIU) def. No. 31 Bergman/Lingman (HU), 8-4 2. No. 44 Bajin/Martire (HU) def. Suard/Jovanovic (FIU), 8-6 3. No. 39 Wang/Anderson (HU) def. Duronio/Jonson (FIU), 8-1 Singles 1. No. 19 Courtney Bergman (HU) def. Desanks Jovanovic (FIU) 6-3, 6-2 2. No. 64 Susanna Lingman (HU) def. Mei Ly (FIU) 6-2, 6-1 3. No. 53 Alexis Martire (HU) def. Bruna Discordia (FIU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 4. Sanja Bajin (HU) def. Christine Suard (FIU) 7-5, 4-6 (10-5) 5. No. 88 Eva Wang (HU) def. Davina Duronio (FIU) 6-1, 6-1 6. Melissa Anderson (HU) def. Courtney Jonson (FIU) 5-7, 6-0, 6-2