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Francesca Tondi has been named the Lee University Female Athlete of the Week after opening the season with impressive victories at Erskine College and in an exhibition at Presbyterian College.

Tondi led the Lady Flames to a short-handed 5-4 victory over Erskine College to officially open up the 2018 season on Friday afternoon. Tondi teamed up with Marta Garcia-Nieto to win at No.1 doubles, 9-7.

"We came out more aggressive because we knew we were playing a girl down (due to sickness) from the start," said all-conference junior Francesca Tondi. "We focused better and started hitting the ball and weren't afraid to miss. I was trying to hit bigger than my opponent and be offensive on the baseline."
 
Tondi did just that as she took down Katie Loudermilk, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Tondi landed on the Gulf South All-Conference team in her first two season with the Lady Flames.

The junior would also win at No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday in an exhibition match at NCAA D1 Presbyterian College.

Tondi and the Lady Flames are back in action Saturday as they take on Carson Newman to wrap up the three-game road trip to start the season. Coach Patric Hynes and Lee return to Cleveland for their home and Gulf South Conference opener Feb. 20 as they take on West Georgia at 2 p.m.