WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 20, 2026) – On a beautiful night under the lights of the Tennis and Golf Center, honoring women in tennis throughout the community, Rollins defeated Eckerd, 6-1. The conference victory adds one more to their unblemished record thus far, improving the Tars to 4-0.
The teams traded doubles matches before an epic tiebreaker secured the first overall match point.
Sydney Eckstein, making her spring season debut, paired with
Alyssa Novoa to give Rollins a quick lead. Eckerd battled back, though, winning on court two and setting up a drama filled match on court one. After going to a tiebreak,
Nisan Can and
Milla Falster showed resolve, prevailing 7-6 (7-5) and giving Rollins some momentum into singles play.
Can allowed her doubles triumph to catapult her into singles play. From the third position, Can cruised to another straight set victory, 6-1, 6-3. Not to be out done was her counterpart
Amina Abdulloeva, who has been an anchor for the Tars all season. Bumped up to the number five line for tonight's contest, the new court did not slow the sophomore down. Abdulloeva swept the first set, before showing her grit and pulling out a 7-5 winner in set number two. Rollins would need just one more match to ice it and add another to the win column.
To the Tritons credit, they battled all night. Catherine Cole defeated
Sydney Eckstein 6-1, 6-4 on court six, getting the Tritons on the board. Although she lost, Eckstein fought and certainly has lots to build upon from her performance moving forward. Meanwhile, her doubles partner for the night, was in quite the bout herself on court one. Novoa took the first set 6-3 but dropped set two 4-6, setting the stage for a winner-take-all third set. And after trading games throughout the finale, a 7-2 win in the tiebreaker ultimately gave the number one singles (s)tar the win, officially clinching the match.
Elsewhere,
Amina Taibi and
Milla Falster were not done showcasing their resolve. Taibi dropped set one, 4-6 yet was unfazed for a tie breaking victory in set two. Finally, facing a match decider herself, Taibi brought it home for a smooth landing, prevailing 6-1. That turned all eyes to Falster, who overcame a deficit of her own to claw into a winner-take-all third (the theme for tonight). This time, since the match was decided, the first to ten points would be crowded champion of the match. Getting off to a quick lead, Falster never wavered. The senior impressed with a 10-4 win.
Altogether, the night chalks up to a 6-1 victory and the first win as the newly deemed fourteenth ranked team in the nation. The Tars now stand at 3-0 in conference, an unblemished mark that will be put to the test by Palm Beach Atlantic next Saturday. First, though, Rollins welcomes Edward-Waters to town for a match on Tuesday afternoon. Doubles play will begin at 4pm.
For coverage on all the matches, all season long, be sure to check into Rollinssports.com.
