The Alabama women’s tennis team improved its record to 9-1 on the season with a bounce-back win against Eastern Tennessee State University, 5-2.

“We played a very good ETSU team,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “They were gritty and competed well. It was a great opportunity for both teams.”

The Crimson Tide started the match off with the duo of juniors Alba Courtinea Pou and Luca Fabian winning their doubles match 6-1. With a back and forth battle on court No. 1, juniors Ann Selim and Kim Gintrand broke serve late to win the doubles point for Alabama with a 6-3 victory.

“The doubles matches were very close and very competitive,” Mainz said. “We needed this. We needed to get back on the saddle and be tested.”

In singles play, ETSU tied the score at 1-1 with a win on court No. 3. The tie did not last long as senior Andie Daniell battled to a 6-1, 7-5 victory by breaking ETSU’s No. 1 player on the deuce point in the final game of the match.

“My goal coming into the match was to play solid and make my opponent work,” Daniell said. “The second set she played very good tennis, but I weathered the storm and stayed calm. Overall, I felt good about the goals I accomplished for this match.”

After Selim easily won on court No. 5, sophomore Moka Ito was one of the three players remaining to clinch the match for the Crimson Tide. After losing the first set, Ito controlled most of her match by winning the second set 6-3 and then went up in the third set 5-3. In the final game, she fell behind 30-40 and needed two consecutive points to secure a win in her match and a win for Alabama. She forced her opponent into two errors, which secured a Crimson Tide victory.

“She had to physically battle what she was going through, but even more so mentally,” said Mainz. “She lost the first set 2-6, her legs were tired, she was having difficulty, but she fought her way through it and won.”

The team will travel to Montgomery next weekend to compete in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic.