Men's Tennis 9/23/2024 3:44:00 PM Brenda Bogle

FNU completes stay at ITA Regional

Photo credit: Ethan Sullivan

LAKELAND, Fla. (Sept. 23, 2024) - Florida National University's men's and women's tennis teams competed at the ITA Regional hosted by Southeastern University from Sept. 19-21. FNU faced stout competition from various Sun Conference schools: Ave Maria University, SCAD Savannah, the College of Coastal Georgia and St. Thomas University. Other ranked institutions in the tournament included Keiser University and the host Southeastern Fire.

The Conquistador men fell in all seven singles matches, with Luigi Stefanacci sending his match versus STU's Leon Emich to three sets before falling 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Lukas Nico Kopitzki had a solid match as well, losing 6-3, 6-3 to another Bobcat in Giacomo Nava.

Luis Figueroa was held scoreless by Gonzalo Tano from Coastal Georgia and freshman Deniz Zeki fell 6-1 in straight sets to Jan Gewaltig. While each match delivered its challenges, FNU was able to see some of the competition they will be facing when conference play commences in early 2025. Notably, FNU pair Ignacio Acosta and Zeki brought home two doubles match wins. They defeated Julio Infante and Niklas Huth from Warner University and Danil Ozernoy and David Lopez Cruz from SCAD Savannah.

On the women's singles courts, Nadia Abad defeated Riley Cook from Warner while Vanessa Simone took down SCAD's Ava Goto 6-2, 6-0. Simone also picked up another victory versus STU's Vivien Faludi 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3. Notably, SCAD's Yue Yu was the only person to hand Simone a loss over the weekend, defeating the senior 6-0, 6-1.

In doubles play, Abad and Lavinia Anais Karadža outlasted SEU's Martina Picardi and Isabella Forcella 8-3. The duo also picked up a stellar 8-4 win over Coastal Georgia's Jona-Marie Seban and Lyla Johnson

Up Next: FNU returns to the court in October for the Barry University Invite.

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Players Mentioned

Ignacio Acosta: 5' 8"; Senior

Luis Figueroa: 5' 10"; Freshman

Lukas Nico Kopitzki: 6' 2"; Freshman

Luigi Stefanacci: 5' 7"; Senior

Nadia Abad: 5' 5"; Senior

Lavinia Anais Karadža: 5' 11"; Freshman

Vanessa Simone: 5' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Ignacio Acosta
: 5' 8"; Senior

Luis Figueroa
: 5' 10"; Freshman

Lukas Nico Kopitzki
: 6' 2"; Freshman

Luigi Stefanacci
: 5' 7"; Senior

Nadia Abad
: 5' 5"; Senior

Lavinia Anais Karadža
: 5' 11"; Freshman

Vanessa Simone
: 5' 4"; Senior