The No. 5 Alabama women’s tennis team began its final home stand Friday with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Texas A&M. Sophomore Maya Jansen won her match 7-6, 6-3 to clinch the victory over the Aggies.
“It feels good to win that one,” Jansen said. “Today Texas A&M played really well in those beginning games, so we just had to fight and claw our way back.”
The match began with an emotional win in doubles. The Crimson Tide and Aggies split the matches on courts 1 and 2. The point was decided on court 3 where junior Emily Zabor and freshman Danielle Spielmann took down Texas A&M’s Jana McCord and Saska Gavrilovska 8-6.
“All the doubles teams were first-time, so I was really proud the way we competed and fought,” freshman Erin Routliffe said.
The doubles lineup for the Crimson Tide was new and hadn’t been used before. Senior Mary Anne Daines and Jansen were paired up on court 1. Routliffe and junior Luicelena Perez were on court 2. Court 2 won 8-3 to begin doubles, while court 1 fell 8-6.
“I think we were getting a little stale with our doubles,” Alabama coach Jenny Mainz said. “We are doing it to spice it up.”
The first singles match was decided when Routliffe won her match 6-3 6-3. Routliffe was down early 3-0, but took control of the match after that. She won eight straight games before she lost another in the second set.
“I was just a little slow at the beginning,” Routliffe said. “I just kind of realized, ‘Ok Erin, get it together. You can just fight.’”
Eleven minutes after Routliffe clinched her match, Perez won 6-3, 7-5. The Crimson Tide took a 3-0 lead. Texas A&M’s Paula Deheza won on court 2 against Spielmann 6-4, 6-3 to make the score 3-1. It was then Jansen’s turn, who ended the match with her victory.
“Geez,” Mainz said. “She’s been clutch.”
Alabama will be back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. against Missouri for the last home match of the regular season.
“We are going to come out and try to show our fans how much we love them and do our best in that match,” Routliffe said.