Florence Clercx Named East Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Week; Castrillon Earns Honor Roll Status
WEST BABYLON, NY – The University of the District of Columbia's Florence Clercx has earned East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Rookie of the Week distinction for her performance in the Firebirds' first two matches of the season this past weekend.
Clercx won both of her No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles matches in hotly-contested back-to-back ECC matches on the road at NYIT and LIU Post last weekend. She is 2-0 in both singles and doubles play to start the season.
Against NYIT, Clercx teamed with sophomore Estefania Castrillon to beat Rosa LaCorte and Kaitlyn Byrnes, 8-4 at No. 3 doubles – a pivotal win which gave UDC a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play. Clercx then went on to earn the decisive 5th point of the match by winning the final singles match of the day, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. This No. 6 singles win sealed the victory for UDC and ended the five-time reigning ECC champion Bears' 31-match ECC win streak.
The Son, Netherlands native also did all she could to lead UDC to a second consecutive victory at LIU Post the next day. She and Castrillon edged Charlotte Hynes and Christina Jud, 8-6 at No. 3 doubles, and she posted a decisive, 6-1, 6-0 No. 6 singles win over Meagan Byrne for the first singles point of the match. UDC, however, went on to lose a see-saw battle to the Pioneers, 5-4.
Meanwhile, Castrillon was named to the ECC Weekly Honor Roll for her performance in the Firebirds' 1-1 effort over the weekend. The Bogota, Columbia native won both of her No. 5 singles matches and teamed with Clercx for two No. 3 doubles wins.
The Firebirds (1-1, 1-1 ECC) will host their home opener Friday, September 15th vs. ECC foe Queens College at 12 p.m.