ORLANDO, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's tennis team earned their first win of the 2023 spring season on Wednesday, defeating an NCAA Division II opponent, the Davenport University Panthers. The matchup was the first ever meeting between the Gyrenes and the Panthers, a former member of the NAIA, in women's tennis.

The Gyrenes got in the win column thanks to their performance in the singles matches, where AMU won four of six contests to rally from losing the doubles point for an overall 4-3 win over the Panthers.

Davenport won two of the three doubles matches to earn the opening point of the match on Friday. The doubles win for Ave Maria came from the All-American duo of Lara Teodoro and Vitoria Barandas, who were 6-2 winners over Davenport's top duo. Decisive wins of 6-3 at the second doubles flight and 6-1 at the third flight allowed the Panthers to enter singles play with the 1-0 lead.

Needing to win four of six singles matches to take the match, the Gyrenes did just that. The Gyrenes were especially up against the wall after straight set wins at the first and sixth flights, putting Davenport one point away from the win. Ave Maria's lone two-set win came from Regina Ruiz at the fifth flight. The Mexican newcomer won 6-4, 7-5, giving Ave Maria their first point of the match. 

Two of Ave Maria's three-set wins were of the come from behind variety, as Andrea Rodriguez Oria and Vitoria Barandas both lost the first set before winning two straight. Rodriguez Oria won 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 at the third flight, and Barandas was a winner at the fourth flight, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. 

Valentine Colin was the third three-set winner for Ave Maria, taking the first set at the second flight by a 6-3 score before a 6-3 loss in the second set forced a decisive third set. Colin clinched the match with a 6-4 win in the final set.

A Division I opponent awaits the Gyrenes on Monday in their next match. Ave Maria will welcome the Falcons of Bowling Green State University to southwest Florida for a match at 1:00 p.m. in Ave Maria. The match against Bowling Green will begin a key stretch for the Gyrene women against top opponents, as Ave Maria will battle three of the nation's top ten teams in the week following the match against BGSU.