The No. 25 Alabama women’s tennis team showed incredible resilience in its win against No. 18 Ole Miss on Sunday. The Crimson Tide defeated the Rebels in convincing fashion, 6-1, earning its first win against a ranked opponent this year.

The doubles matches were hard fought, with the Tide winning two out of the three and thus earning a critical point in the doubles section of the match.

The most intriguing match was the one that the Tide lost. First, doubles team Alexa Guarachi and Courtney McLane struggled through the first half of the match, starting off down 3-7. Then a spark ignited, swinging the momentum in their favor.

The Tide won the next four games and eventually forced a tiebreaker. However, they came up just short, losing the tiebreaker 4-7.

“I told them they won the doubles point for us…with them winning four games in a row, that momentum was huge for the team,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We won the doubles point because they were able to find a way to win four consecutive games. Even though they lost, I am really proud of them; I think they did a great job.”

When it came time for singles matches, Guarachi did not let her second chance at a win get away from her. She dictated the entire match from the first point to the last, winning 6-1, 6-2.

“She did an exemplary job today. I mean, she really set the tone,” Coach Mainz said.

Throughout the entire match, the confidence in Guarachi was easy to see, and she did not allow any breathing room for her opponent.

“Ole Miss is a really good team, and we always want to beat them, and I went out there today, and I was just confident, and I wanted to take it to her,” Guarachi said.

With the tough loss in the doubles match earlier in the day, Guarachi said that it helped her a lot for motivation.

“I just tried to stay positive. We won the doubles point overall, so there’s something positive in that, and I just went out there and played my game in singles,” Guarachi said.

Another one of the most exciting matches of the day was the 5th singles match with Antonia Foehse, which gave Alabama their fourth point and sealed the overall victory, 7-6, 6-4. With Antonia up 5-1 in the second set, Ole Miss rallied back from behind to cut the lead to 5-4, but Foehse stopped the momentum there by winning a hard fought final game of the match.

“She has been doing a much better job of stepping up and dictating,” Mainz said. “It showed maturity, and it showed that she’s learning from previous experience. She’s played some good tennis.”

The Tide will play at Louisiana State on March 9 at 3 p.m.