Feb. 8, 2002

ORLANDO, FL - Florida Atlantic University's bid for a road victory to start the Atlantic Sun Conference season fell short Friday in a 4-3 loss at Central Florida. The Lady Owls dropped to 2-3 on the year and 0-1 in the A-Sun.

FAU took an early 1-0 lead after sweeping the three doubles matches and looked poised to sneak away with a road victory. However, the Golden Knights responded with four victories in singles action. UCF took victories at no. 2, no. 4, and no. 5 to lead 3-1 before the Lady Owls rallied.

Alena Dvorakova defeated UCF's Anna Westin 7-6, 6-3 at no. 1 to pull FAU to within 3-2. That was followed by Karolina Roubickova's three-set victory at no. 6 over Amira Samara to tie the match at 3-3.

The outcome of the match was decided by the no. 3 match between FAU's Maria Aguirre-Gomez and UCF's Marieke Gunawan. After losing the first set 6-2, Aguirre-Gomez came back to take set two 6-3. Gunawan prevailed 6-2 in the final set to claim the victory and clinch the win for UCF.

Florida Atlantic continues its three-day, three-match road trip Saturday with an afternoon match at South Florida.

UCF 4, FAU 3

Singles
1. Alena Dvorakova (FAU) d. Anna Westin (UCF) 7-6, 6-3.
2. Emmanuelle Sauze (UCF) d. Tania Rivera (FAU) 6-4, 6-3.
3. Marieke Gunawan (UCF) d. Maria Aguirre-Gomez (FAU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
4. Julie Pecastaing (UCF) d. Stephanie Beaulieu (FAU) 6-0, 6-1.
5. Kristina Lohmos (UCF) d. Jessica Burrow (FAU) 6-2, 6-1.
6. Karolina Roubickova (FAU) d. Amira Samara 1-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles
1. Dvorakova/Roubickova (FAU) d. Pecastaing/Westin (UCF) 9-8.
2. Aguirre-Gomez/Burrow (FAU) d. Gunawan/Sauze (UCF) 8-5.
3. Maya Case/Rivera (FAU) d. Lohmos/Samara (UCF) 8-5.