Women's Tennis Rallies to Defeat Towson 5-2

Senior Marlene Ryan picked up a straight-set victory at No. 2 singles to clinch Wednesday's match against Towson

March 20, 2013

Final Stats

Boca Raton, FL - Senior Marlene Ryan won a straight-set match to clinch a singles rally in the Florida Atlantic University women's tennis team's 5-2 victory over Towson University on Wednesday, March 20 at Patch Reef Park.

The Owls won on five of the six singles courts to improve to 8-7 on the season. Ryan won both sets over Towson's Nisha Shah by 6-4 scores in the No. 2 singles match.

"I was very happy with the way I started out the match. I was more focused to get off to a good start," said Ryan. "Hopefully, today's win can help get us some confidence and momentum for the conference tournament (April 18-21)."

Junior Stephanie Cardullo started the comeback with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph on the fourth singles court. Senior Natasha Basma dropped only six games in earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles.

Towson answered back with a straight-set victory on the No. 6 singles court. However, FAU sophomore Taylor Briggs picked up a 7-5, 6-3 victory on the fifth court to set up Ryan's clinching match at No. 2 singles.

Sophomore Catalina Ene rounded out the winners with a three-set win over Towson's Ayana Dow 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (3).

FAU returns to the court on Thursday, March 21 at 2 p.m. against the University of Cincinnati at Patch Reef Park.

Florida Atlantic 5, Towson 2
Singles
No. 1 Catalina Ene (FAU) def. Ayana Dow (TOW) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (3)
No. 2 Marlene Ryan (FAU) def. Nisha Shah (TOW) 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 Natasha Basma (FAU) def. Nani Lizana (TOW) 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Stephanie Cardullo (FAU) def. Lorena Ferrer (TOW) 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Taylor Briggs (FAU) def. Ariel Burke (TOW) 7-5, 6-3
No. 6 Andrea Samlin (TOW) def. Natasha Phillips (FAU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 Dow/Ferrer (TOW) def. Claire-Mitchell Andrews/Basma (FAU) 8-2
No. 2 Burke/Lizana (TOW) def. Cardullo/Ryan (FAU) 8-4
No. 3 Samlin/Shah (TOW) def. Ene/Phillips (FAU) 8-5