BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 17, 2018) – The Webber International University women's tennis team rallied together to earn its first win of the season, taking down the 22nd-ranked team in the country, Saint Thomas University, 5-4 on Saturday. The Webber men's tennis team fell 7-2 to the Saint Thomas men, who were also ranked No. 22 in the country.

Senior Juliana Fuentes clinched the match win for the Webber women (1-2 overall, 1-2 The Sun Conference) with a gutsy performance at No. 5 singles to finish off the night. Fuentes earned a 6-0 victory in the first set before taking the second set 7-6 and winning the tiebreaker 7-5.

To kick off the day, the Lady Warriors got off to a great start in doubles action, earning wins at No. 1 doubles from Jenna Fosdick and Emily John (8-4) and at No. 2 doubles from Isabelle Niehoff and Svenja Koenig (9-8; 10-8 tiebreaker).

In the rest of singles action, John was victorious 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Fosdick was victorious at No. 3 singles 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

On the men's side, Hugo Hasegawa earned a win at No. 1 singles (6-4, 6-0) and teamed up with Ivan Bonderanko for a close 8-6 defeat at No. 1 doubles.

Similarly, Kyle Hall was a winner at No. 6 singles (7-5, 6-2) after fighting hard in doubles action with his partner Matthew Alexander in a 9-7 defeat at the No. 3 spot. Alexander also put together a strong performance at No. 4 singles, dropping two sets 7-5, 7-5.

The Webber men fell to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference on the season as both the Warriors' men's and women's teams have opened their respective seasons with three straight matches against nationally ranked opponents.

"Starting the season against the No. 5 and No. 3 teams in the country, and then having to play the No. 22 team has created for a long two weeks for us," said Head Tennis Coach Otis Cutshaw. "It was worth it to see the ladies fight hard today and break through to earn their first 'W' of the season. We still have a lot of work to do, but to get the feeling of a win is a great thing"

The Saint Thomas men moved to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference while the Bobcats' women's team fell to 1-4 and 1-2.

Webber's second road match of the season will come next week at Southeastern University as the Warriors' men's and women's teams both battle a non-ranked team for the first time all season. The Warriors and the Fire will begin the action at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21, in Lakeland, Florida.