ORLANDO, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's tennis team showed why they are the number 20 team in the nation on Thursday afternoon, dominating the Cougars of Spring Arbor University at the USTA National Center in Orlando. The Gyrenes did not drop a single set in a 7-0 thrashing of the Cougars, giving AMU their second win of the season, and first outside of Sun Conference competition.

Ave Maria's dominance started in doubles action, as the Gyrenes won all three matches. AMU's top duo of Lara Teodoro and Julia Candiotto rolled to a 6-1 victory of SAU's number one team of Abby Ducharme and Kenzie Weener. The number three team of Katie Fuller and Aethielle Kelkboom clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Paige Trela and Emma Ruga, while a 6-4 win from Gabrielle Benn and Kely Oliveira completed the doubles sweep.

Teodoro continued to be essentially unchallenged in her singles match, getting AMU their first singles point with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Spring Arbor's Abby Ducharme in the number one spot. Kelkboom increased Ave Maria's lead to 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Morgan Summons at the number four spot, and Benn defeated Paige Trela, 6-3, 6-1, at the number three spot to clinch the match for the Gyrenes.

Candiotto also won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, over SAU's number two player, Makenzi Sells, to earn Ave Maria's fifth point of the day. Fuller picked up a singles win over Lindsey Scott, 6-1, 6-4, at the number six spot, and Kely Oliveira completed the sweep on the day with the closest contest of the afternoon. Oliveira won the first set, 7-5, then took the second set into a tiebreaker before emerging victorious.

The Gyrene women are currently in the midst of a stretch of non-conference games against teams from across the country.The next match on the schedule comes on Saturday afternoon, when Ave Maria travels to the USTA National Training Center in Orlando for a neutral site contest with Point University from Georgia. The match is weather permitting, and could be moved to later in the weekend. Opening serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.