The weather was cold, windy and cloudy on Friday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, but the Alabama women’s tennis team still managed to bring the heat against Tulane. Despite the dreary conditions outside, the atmosphere inside the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility was alive and exciting. The Crimson Tide had come off a clean sweep against Troy just two days prior, and that energy was apparent as the doubles matches began.

Senior Moka Ito and graduate student Sydney Riley pulled off a 6–2 win in the No. 1 doubles position. Although the two only recently started playing together as a doubles team, they were the first to finish. Their former partners, freshmen Anna Parkhomenko and Anne Marie Hiser, filled the #3 Doubles spot and also made quick work of their Tulane opponents. With two doubles wins, Alabama secured a 1-0 lead and the team began to prepare for the singles matches. 

Going into the match, Ito quickly set the tone for the rest of the team. At 6-1 in the No. 1 singles position, she quickly added another win to her record. She went 6-2, 6-1 against her Tulane opponent. Soon after, Riley (No. 6), graduate student Alba Cortina Pou (No. 3), Parkhomenko (No. 4), and Hiser (No. 5) all secured wins, resulting in a 6–0 Alabama lead. At that point, the Crimson Tide had enough points to secure the win, but there was one match left in the Baumgardner Facility. 

At No. 2 Singles, sophomore Sasha Gorchanyuk started off strong and won the first set 6–2. However, the second set was much closer and Gorchanyuk fell to 4–6, pushing a tiebreaker third set. She was narrowly defeated with a score of 10-12, making it a tough loss for her. However, the Crimson Tide managed an overall a 6-1 win over Tulane. The win puts Alabama at an 8–1 winning record for the season and an all-time 4-0 record against Tulane.

“We played a solid match today from start to finish,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We got a great start in the doubles and took that momentum into singles grabbing six first sets. We had great energy today and played together. We’re getting better.”

Since the Tulane win, the Crimson Tide had their match against TCU canceled on Sunday, but were able to play and defeat UAB on Wednesday. After securing doubles wins across the board, three quick singles wins followed. This resulted in enough wins to declare a 4-0 victory over the Blazers. Despite her tough individual loss against Tulane, Sasha Gorchanyuk won the fourth and final point on Wednesday to clinch the win.

Looking ahead, the Crimson Tide will be going into the rest of their season with a strong 9-1 record. They have an exciting weekend in Tuscaloosa, facing Florida (2-3) on Friday and South Carolina (3-4) on Sunday. If they play anything like they did this past week, the matches are sure to be a great start as the team heads into SEC play.