Copyright © 2023, Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. / Privacy Policy
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) – Florida State Women’s Tennis student-athletes Petra Hule and Anna Arkadianou shined on Sunday afternoon in the Seminoles’ 5-2 loss to top-ranked North Carolina at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.
Senior and 15th-ranked Hule continued her torrid play by defeating 12th-ranked Cameron Morra, 6-1, 6-4. In singles matches, the native of Adelaide, Australia, has won 11 of her 12 matches in the spring.
“Another weekend in the ACC against two top 10 foes. We had some bigtime performances over the weekend from everyone, highlighted by Petra and Anna beating four nationally ranked players, Kianah having a season best performance against Duke, and Olympe teaming with Lesedi for a huge doubles win on Friday to clinch a much needed doubles point.”
We continue to get better each time out, regardless of the deficits we have in numbers. We raised the level of how we compete again this weekend, and know that that level is required down the stretch of our last three weeks of regular season matches. These Noles are fighting hard, and progressing.
After a dominant first set, Hule had to fend off Morra in the second set but was able to pull out another victory. The win comes on top of defeating 20th-ranked Georgia Drummy of Duke in straight sets on Friday, securing a strong weekend for Hule.
Overall, Hule is now 15-1 in singles matches.
Arkadianou played one of the best matches of her young career as she picked up a hard-fought victory over 10th-ranked Reilly Tran in three sets (7-5, 5-7, 14-12). Both players showed their durability and stamina in the tie-breaking third set. Arkadianou proved to be tough-minded as well, giving up a 4-2 advantage in the second frame but managing to bounce back and earn a Top 10 win.
Arkadianou, who hails from Athens, Greece, also went 2-0 in singles play over the weekend against the ACC’s two Tobacco Road programs. The momentum-building wins move her up to 8-7 overall this season. On Friday, she defeated Duke’s Kelly Chen, 6-2, 6-3.
The Seminoles were forced to forfeit one match in doubles play as well as the fifth and sixth singles matches. The singles forfeits gave the Tar Heels an automatic two points, meaning FSU needed to win all four singles matches.
FSU fell in both doubles matches against the Tar Heels to give UNC the lone doubles point. The Tar Heels split the four singles matches, winning on courts three and four with No. 34 Fiona Crawley (6-2, 6-1) and Anika Yarlagadda (6-3, 6-3) to secure the win.
“We continue to get better each time out, regardless of the deficits we have in numbers,” said Hyde. “We raised the level of how we compete again this weekend, and we know that that level is required down the stretch of our last three weeks of regular season matches. These Noles are fighting hard, and progressing.”
FSU returns with another home event on Saturday, April 2, when it hosts Tulane at Noon at the Speicher Center in what will be the team’s final non-conference regular season match.
