The No. 30 Alabama women’s tennis team broke a three-match losing streak this weekend after defeating No. 57 Georgia State at the Alabama University Tennis Stadium 5-2 Saturday.
“We needed to get a win for the team since we’ve lost the last few matches,” said freshman Alexa Guarachi. “We just wanted to go out there and compete hard.”
Alabama won two out of three doubles matches against Georgia State. The Panthers forfeited the third match due to a lack of players, which gave the Tide an easy win.
Alabama’s second win came off an 8-2 win in their number one doubles when No. 82 Guarachi and sophomore Courtney McLane beat Georgia State’s Katerina Gresova, junior and Tereza Lerova, freshman. Alabama lost their number two doubles match 8-1 as seniors Paulina Bigo and Alice Tunaru fell against Georgia State’s No. 42 Diana Nakic and Linda Hricistova.
“Number one doubles did an excellent job once again,” said head coach Jenny Mainz. “They do a good job of taking care of their court. It gives us a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, but Courtney and Alexa in doubles have been very consistent in coming out ready to play and taking care of their court and that gives us a boost in doubles.”
The Tide had a successful run against the Panthers in the singles Saturday, winning four out of six matches.
In the number one singles spot, McLane lost to Nakic 6-4, 6-2. In their number two singles, Guarachi defeated Lerova 6-1, 6-2. Bigo also lost to Georgia State’s Kir Kemp, sophomore, 6-3, 3-6, 6-10. Alabama came back with a win in their number four singles, by junior Meritt Emery beat Gresova 6-4, 6-2.
In the number five singles, Alabama also came out on top as Antonia Foehse, freshman, beat out the Panthers’ Linda Hricistova 6-2, 6-3 for her first win at Alabama. The final singles number six spot was forfeited by Georgia State to giving Alabama another edge.
“It feels exciting,” Foehse said of her first win. “I just played with confidence and worked offensively playing more aggressive.”
The Tide continues their history of having never lost to Panthers, now holding a 4-0 record in the series. The last time they battled off was in Tuscaloosa where Alabama barely beat off the Georgia State 4-3.
“Georgia State is always a dangerous team, they are always a quality team,” Mainz said. “Last year, it was a battle. Regardless of them being short-handed we knew we needed to come out and play.”
The Tide keeps their 2-0 undefeated record at home this season after winning their first match of the season in Tuscaloosa 6-1. Alabama’s next match will be against No. 72 Oregon on Saturday.
“It’s something we say every week: when we play at home, protect this house,” Guarachi said. “We are going to take the momentum we got this week and try to get better and have a good practice week.”
