The #12 Keiser University women's tennis team defeated #20 St. Thomas 8-1 on Friday afternoon in a Sun Conference matchup. The Seahawks improved to 9-6 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Keiser got off to a quick start as Ana Pinto and Juliana Goncalves cruised to an 8-0 win at #2 doubles. Shortly after that, the #1 pair of Teodora Stanciu and Lola Garcia won 8-3 upping the advantage to 2-0. The #3 tandem of Livia Toth and Laura Ortega trailed 4-1 before rallying seven straight games to win 8-4 and complete the doubles sweep.

Pinto at #2 singles won her match 6-2, 6-3 to put the Seahawks within one point of clinching the match. However, the Bobcats got their first and only point of the day at #3 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Guy. Ortega responded by clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at number one singles.

Goncalves at #6 collected a 6-0, 6-1 win and Toth at #6 came away with a hard fought 6-1, 7-5 victory pushing the lead to 7-1. The day was then capped by Stanciu with a 6-2, 6-0 win, giving Keiser the 8-1 win.

Head Coach Daniel Finn said, "I am really happy and really proud of the ladies today. We came out with a lot of energy and really brought it to St. Thomas. We've spoken all year about the lack of energy that we've had and today we really had it and we had when it mattered most.  We had tremendous energy in doubles and allowed us to jump ahead early and that helped us the rest of the way in the match. The ladies are certainly coming along and we hope to be playing our best tennis at the most important part of time of the year which is obviously this part of the year."

Keiser returns to the court tomorrow afternoon against Warner at 12:30 at Oxbridge Academy.