Alabama women’s tennis won a nail-biter 4-3 against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, moving the Crimson Tide’s record to 3-2 on the season.
“I’m super proud of the team. I think everyone showed up,” assistant coach Alba Cortina Pou said. “It’s very important to have that ability when a game comes down to the wire to be able to execute and be strong mentally, and this team has done that very well.”
In doubles, Georgia Tech’s Scarlett Nicholson and Kylie Bilchev got the Yellow Jackets going with a 6-4 victory over the Crimson Tide’s Margaux Maquet and Petra Sedlackova.
The second doubles match saw Klara Milicevic and Sara Nayar get Alabama back on track with a 6-4 victory over Georgia Tech’s Alejandra Cruz and Given Roach, setting up a tiebreaking match.
In the tiebreaker, Maria Martinez-Vaquero and Maria Andrienko clinched the doubles victory for Alabama with a close 7-5 victory over Kate Sharabura and Taly Licht. The second doubles win for the Crimson Tide gave the team a 1-0 overall lead heading into the singles matches.
“Doubles is something we’ve been working on a lot, so our first doubles win of the season is great,” Pou said.
In the first singles match, Nicholson got her second win of the day and gave Georgia Tech its first point after defeating Sedlackova in two sets (7-5, 6-0).
Nayar gave Alabama its second point of the day after defeating Meera Jesudason in two sets (6-2, 6-2). After besting Andrienko in two sets (7-5, 6-1), Cruz tied the match for the Yellow Jackets at 2-2.
Georgia Tech then took a 3-2 lead thanks to Sharabura securing a two-set victory over Milicevic (7-5, 6-2). Maquet then won in two sets over Licht (6-4, 7-6) to even things up at 3-3 and set up a winner-take-all tiebreaking singles match.
In the match that would determine the victory, Martinez-Vaquero answered the bell once again for Alabama, winning an intense three-set match over Roach (6-7, 6-2, 6-3) and clinching the victory for the Crimson Tide. It was her second tiebreaking victory of the day.
“I’m very exhausted right now, but I feel great,” Martinez-Vaquero said. “That feeling of getting that last point after three sets is insane, and I’m so happy.”
Up next for Alabama is a home matchup against East Tennessee State on Friday at 2 p.m CT.
