TAMPA, Fla. – After upsetting No. 4 Saint Leo on Saturday, it seemed the No. 15 Nova Southeastern University women's tennis team (3-3, 1-1 SSC) had the momentum going into the match against Tampa, but it was not enough as they suffered a 5-4 loss to the Spartans (1-0, 1-0 SSC) on Sunday afternoon in Tampa.

Once again the Sharks had the upper hand going into the singles matches after taking two of the three doubles matches. Luicelena Perez and Isabella Lowrey secured their fifth straight victory in the top flight defeating Caroline Lozo and Emily Hewland, 8-5. Nastassia Rubel and Simone Pratt remain undefeated at No. 2 doubles with an 8-6 win over Lilley Nice and Maddie Stephens. The Spartans avoided the doubles sweep with a 9-7 win at No. 3 doubles.

The Sharks put the Spartans on thin ice taking a 4-1 lead after winning the first and second doubles flights. Luicelena Perez stays undefeated in the top spot with a 6-2 6-2 in over Caroline Lozo. Simone Pratt picked up where she left off yesterday defeating Emily Hewland, 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. But the Spartans would rally and snatch a 5-4 win from the Sharks after winning the third, fourth fifth and sixth singles matches.

"Its' tough loss especially after defeating Saint Leo the day before," Neagle said. "We were a different team today than yesterday and it came back to hurt us. LP (Perez) is still performing well at the top spot and Simone had a great weekend but we have to make sure everyone stays consistent for every match. We have some time off before home opener and we will take the time to rest up and practice harder so we can shine in front of the home crowd."

The Sharks will have their home opener against Rollins on Saturday, March 4 at 10:30 a.m. and then face Toledo on Monday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m.