FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 26 Nova Southeastern tennis team (6-8, 4-1 SSC) will compete in two matches at the NSU Tennis Complex over the coming days, facing the West Alabama Tigers (7-5) Saturday at 11: 00 a.m. and the No. 36 Florida Tech Panthers (10-4, 2-3 SSC) Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
The Sharks are coming off three straight losses, all of which have come at home. The Sharks played a close match against Towson Monday, but dropped two three-set matches to fall, 5-4. Since winning back-to-back matches on the road against top-10 opponents back in February, the Sharks have lost seven of their last eight matches.
A large portion of the Sharks’ slump is due to a brutal schedule. The Sharks have faced a variety of NCAA Division-I opponents and nationally ranked Division-II teams. The Sharks have only lost one conference match this season, a 7-2 upset against Saint Leo in the early portion of the SSC schedule.
The Sharks rank third in the Sunshine State Conference behind two undefeated teams. On Saturday, No. 2 Barry and No. 3 Lynn square off in Boca Raton, Fla. in a match that will give one team the inside track towards a regular season championship. If the Sharks record a victory against Florida Tech, they will at least move into a tie for second place in the SSC. The Sharks will need to build momentum in their match against West Alabama, which was just recently added to the schedule.
According to the ITA South Region rankings, the Sharks will be the favorite in both matches. The Sharks moved up to sixth in this week’s rankings, ahead of ninth ranked Florida Tech and unranked West Alabama. Against the Tigers, the Sharks will have the best two singles players and the top doubles team on the court.
Alexandra Johansson (Fr., Sydney, Australia) ranks 10th in the South Region, while senior
Dominique Wimmer (Guntramsdorf, Austria) ranks 15th. Johansson and doubles partner
Austin Lavallii (Williamston, Mich.) rank seventh in the region.
The same can’t be said for the Sharks’ match against Florida Tech. The Panthers are led by the sisters Katarina and Kristina Huba, Katarina, a senior, ranks fifth in the region, while her younger sister ranks eighth. They also team up to form the fourth-best doubles team in the South Region.
The Sharks can also use the next two matches to make a case for a top-25 spot in the national rankings, which will be updated by the ITA on Wednesday.
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