Gioia Advances in NCAA Singles Championship

May 20, 2009

College Station, Texas - Furman senior Laura Gioia earned a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No.16 Nina Munch-Soegaard of TCU in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Singles Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Seventeenth-ranked Gioia advances to the second round of competition where she will face No. 41 Mari Andersson of California. The match is slated to begin at 11:30 CST on Thursday morning.

"Laura played a really smart, patient game today," said Furman head coach Debbie Southern. "Laura scrambled really well, moving all over the court to save a point. She forced her opponent to play a lot of balls and work very hard to win a point. Laura hadn't played since the SoCon Tournament in late April, but she had great focus despite the long break. She really hadn't missed a beat."

Gioia's win was her 15th straight and first ever in the NCAA Tournament. The native of Tampa, Fla., earned a bid in last year's competition, but lost in a three-set heartbreaker. Munch-Soegaard was one of the top 16 seeds in the competition and marked the third ranked opponent that Gioia defeated this year. Gioia is 21-4 in her final season.