Clemson women’s tennis traveled to Tallahassee on Friday, Feb. 25, to kick off the first weekend of ACC conference play against Florida State. The Tigers come into this weekend of conference play with an impressive 6-2 spring season record so far, but were unable to defeat the Seminoles, who won 4-3.
The Tigers got out to an early lead, 3-0, in the third match of doubles, which featured the team of sophomore Samantha Buyckx and junior Ali Despain. However, the Seminoles clinched the first two matches, ultimately giving them a one-point advantage over the Tigers going into the singles matches.
In the single matches, the Tigers were led by sophomore Cristina Mayorova, who faced Petra Hule of Florida State. The first set started close as Mayorova and Hule were tied 3-3. Hule took the momentum as the first set progressed. Following a tightly contested second set, Hule won the match for the Seminoles, 6-3, 7-5.
Clemson’s Eleni Louka, ranked No. 123, following an impressive victory in singles last week, looked to continue her momentum in Tallahassee. Louka, a junior, faced Vic Allen of the Seminoles in the second match of the singles. Vic Allen cruised to a win in the first set, 6-0.
Louka fought back to win the second set, 6-3, but Allen won the third set with ease, 6-1, clinching another singles match for the Seminoles.
Dani Medvedeva for the Clemson Tigers faced Anna Arkadianou of the Seminoles in Match number four. Medvedeva came out blazing to a 3-1 start, which quickly became 5-2.
After Medvedeva clinched the first set for the Tigers, Arkadianou surged back to grab the second set, 6-2. In the deciding set, Arkadianou of the Seminoles took the victory, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Despain and Buyckx battled in three-set singles matches for the Tigers.
Buyckx played a tightly contested first set against Florida State’s Kianah Motosono. The first set went to a tiebreaker, where Motosono slightly edged Buyckx, 7-5, in the breaker. Buyckx battled in the second set, winning the set 6-4 and clinched the match after leading the entire third set.
Despain came out blazing to a 6-0 start, but Florida State’s Olympe Lancelot came back to claim the second set, 6-3. Despain and Lancelot battled back and forth in the deciding set and headed into a final set deciding tiebreaker. Despain won the final set tiebreak decidedly, 7-3, clinching the match.
Florida State finished out on top, winning the tie 4-3 over the Tigers.
The Tigers now head down south to continue their ACC conference play, where they will face the University of Miami this Sunday, Feb. 27.
