The Alabama women’s tennis team followed up an impressive showing at the ITA All-American Championships with a dominant performance at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships on Monday.
Led by junior Mary Anne Macfarlane and senior Alexa Guarachi, the Crimson Tide will be well represented at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships after a stellar performance in the regional tournament over the weekend.
The Tide faced formidable competition from across the Southern region with schools like Auburn, Tulane and Ole Miss among others who brought their best competition to the UA Tennis Complex throughout the weekend.
The first day of action saw the Tide capture eight wins led by the No. 1 seeded Gaurachi and Macfarlane in doubles play. The pair defeated Auburn’s Plamena Kurteva and Michala Kucharova 8-4. Guarachi and freshmen Maya Jansen and Natalia Maynetto also dominated their singles competition.
The Guarachi and Macfarlane tandem rolled past LSU and Troy on the second day of competition to go along with a stellar team performance. The Tide only dropped two matches on Saturday in both doubles and singles, respectively.
The Tide faced its toughest challenge Sunday with a push from Auburn and Ole Miss in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. Again, Guarachi and Macfarlane dominated their competition, Tulane’s Caroline Magnusson and Caroline Thornton, 8-6. However, the Tide’s Natalia Maynetto fell short in her semifinal match against the Rebels’ Caroline Rohde Moe, accounting for the Tide’s only loss.
Monday, Guarachi and Macfarlane rode their No. 1 seed all the way to the regional championship with an 8-4 win over Auburn’s Jen Pfeifler and Jackie Kasler. Guarachi also won her singles final over Caroline Rohde Moe of Ole Miss, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 and reached a spot in the finals in New York.
The pair will travel to take on national competition Nov. 8-11 in Flushing Medows, N.Y., at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.