LAKELAND, Fla. – Beginning Sunshine State Conference play on the road, the No. 3 Saint Leo University women's tennis team defeated No. 10 Florida Southern College by an 8-1 score on Saturday afternoon at the Warden Tennis Center. 

The Lions improve to 2-1 on the season with a 1-0 tally in SSC play while the hosting Mocs fall to 0-2 with a 0-1 tally in conference play.

The Lions tandem of Pauline Helgesson and Anastasia Wagner took down FSC duo of Katie Taylor-Doran and Shannon Griffin by an 8-0.  Finishing second in the doubles round was the team up of Gabrielle Paul and Marine Beugre-Guyot defeated Katie Stanford and Cassie Eldredge by an 8-1 final score.  The Mocs took the final doubles match as Magda Riutort and Olicia Spagnuolo battled Isabella Robbiani and Maria Benkirane to a tightly contested 8-6 victory.  At the conclusion of doubles play, the Lions owned a 2-1 advantage over the hosting Mocs.

In singles action, the Green and Gold took a clean sweep, as each individual Lion bested their Moccasin counterpart.  In the top flight, Robbiani outdueled Riutort by 6-7, 6-4 and 10-4 set scores while Wagner defeated Spagnuolo in straight-sets to earn the win as the decisive fifth victory.  The remaining four Lions took their single matchups in straight-sets.

Paula Montoya defeated Eldridge (6-1 and 6-0) and Benkirane bested Taylor-Doran by 6-2 and 6-1 scores.  Helgesson dominated Shannon Griffin in the fifth flight, posting a pair of 6-0 sets.  Katherine Zaatini concluded her singles bout with a 6-1 and 6-4 win over Stanford.

The Lions will continue SSC play hosting No. 5 Lynn University on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Saint Leo Tennis Center.

 For more information on the Saint Leo women's tennis program, visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.