Varon leads Titan women's tennis team to big finish at Panther Invitational

Luisa Varon admitted she battled some nerves early in her Flight 1 championship match at the Panther Invitational.

After all, it was the sophomore's first tournament as a Titan and she was playing her third Division II opponent of the weekend.

"I was trying to win points but I was so nervous," Varon said. "I just wasn't confident enough, I tried to do things to get my confidence up but just couldn't."

But like she had the entire weekend, The Eastern Florida State College player settled down and started playing her game. Down 3-5 in the first, she broke Florida Tech's Erin Egoroff and then held her own serve to tie things up. But Egoroff took the next two to win the first set 7-5.

But the Titan settled in and took the match over in the second set, forcing a tiebreaker set with a commanding 6-1 win in the second set.

"I hate tiebreakers, anyone can win because it is only 10 points," Varon said. "I just tried to keep going."

Varon took an early 3-0 lead but Egoroff came storming back, tying things at 5-5. Varon responded with five straight points to end the match and claim the title.

"For me, this is a really good win because it helps prepare me for the Regionals," Varon said.

Teammate Lea Stormer also got a good test before regionals, capturing the Flight 4 title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic's Maya Jovic.

Brenda Aguilar won a tiebreaker in the fifth flight and Jamie Duque won a tiebreaker in the seventh flight giving the Titans four women's champions in the invitational.

Josephine Karcher won the third-place match against Florida Tech's Kayla Hergott 6-3, 7-6 (3).

The Titans will host the ITA Florida Regional Championships next weekend at Titan Tennis Center on the Melbourne campus.