The ninth-ranked Alabama women’s tennis team earned a 6-1 victory over SMU on Sunday at the Northwood Country Club. With the win, the Crimson Tide moves to 4-0 on the season while the loss drops the Mustangs to 1-3.
“It was good to be battle tested on the road this weekend,” said Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz. “Both TCU and SMU were good teams and the matches were competitive. We keep talking about finding our way back into matches when we are down, and we did a good job of that all weekend. We had to work for today’s win. I thought we competed well and fought in every spot. It was a good test for us, and we got some good quality matches under our belts.”
Alabama got wins in doubles from courts two and three to claim the first point of the match. From the No. 2 spot, senior Antonia Foehse and freshman Maya Jansen topped SMU senior Edyta Cieplucha and freshman Elena Fayner, 8-3, while the win on court three went in favor of Tide sophomores Yasmeen Ebada and Emily Zabor, 8-2, over sophomore Holly Verner and freshman Hristina Dishkova.
In singles, Alabama posted victories on courts two through six to seal the team win. Tide senior Alexa Guarachi, playing on court two, came back from a first-set loss to beat Malyarchikova, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 while Jansen downed freshman Vaszilisza Bulgakova, 6-3, 6-3, on court three. On court four, Foehse collected a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Fayner while Zabor notched a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Verner at the No. 5 spot. Wrapping play up on court six was freshman Natalia Maynetto, who topped Dishkova, 6-4, 6-0.
(See also, “Women’s tennis team begins spring season on home court”)
Next up, Alabama travels to Charlottesville, Va., for the 2013 ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which will begin on Friday, Feb. 8.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Alabama wins 1st game at Vanderbilt in 23 years
