Alabama
Day 2
Women's Tennis Picks up Seven Wins at Coaches Classic
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Nov. 7, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's tennis team collected seven wins on the second day of play at the SEC Coaches Fall Classic. The day was highlighted by Tiffany Welcher's singles win over No. 51 Alex Haney of Auburn. "We had another good day," said Head Coach Jenny Mainz. "Tiffany had a big win for us which was great.
"I thought we played well in doubles. We were ready to come out of the gate fast, but experienced a little bit of a letdown in the second round. I didn't really see us sensing urgency nor did we capitalize on certain things. All in all it has been a great tournament though, and I'm pleased. I think we are doing a lot of things well, but we are still experiencing difficulty closing out matches. That's an issue we've got to work through."
The morning began with the first round of doubles where Alabama picked up a trio of wins. In the crimson doubles draw, Courtney McLane and Taylor Lindsey earned an 8-2 win over the Tennessee pair of Rosalia Alda and Zsofia Zubor. Paulina Bigos and Welcher teamed together to collect a win in the doubles white draw 8-1 over Emily Carbone and Kate Lukomskaya of Arkansas. In the gold doubles draw, Meritt Emery and Alice Tunaru put forth a solid effort to take down the Vanderbilt team of Hannah Blatt and Keilly Ulery 8-6.
In the second round of doubles, the pairs of McLane and Lindsey and Bigos and Welcher fell to their respective opponents. McLane and Lindsey suffered an 8-1 loss to Auburn's Haney and Melissa Koning, while Bigos and Welcher took a fall against Jennifer Meredith and Natalie Pluskota of Tennessee. Emery and Tunaru posted another doubles win advancing to the finals with their 8-3 victory over Auburn's Heather Bybee and Daniela Vuckadinovic.
In singles play the Tide collected two additional wins to go with Welcher's victory. Welcher met up with Haney in the white draw where the Alabama sophomore lost the first set 6-7(1). Welcher switched into another gear in sets two and three to take the match with a pair of 6-3 wins. Shelley Godwin continued to dominate in singles play with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pluskota. Tunaru also scored a two-set win downing Bybee 6-4, 6-3.
Match play resumes Saturday at 9:00 a.m. with the final round of doubles and singles. All action takes place at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium. Updated results will be available throughout the day on Rolltide.com.
RESULTS
Doubles
McLane/Lindsey(UA) def. Alda/Zubor(UT) 8-2
Haney/Koning(AU) def. McLane/Lindsey(UA) 8-2
Bigos/Welcher(UA) def. Carbone/Lukomskaya(Ark) 8-1
Meredith/Pluskota(UT) def. Bigos/Welcher(UA) 8-1
Emery/Tunaru(UA) def. Blatt/K. Ulery(VU) 8-6
Emery/Tunaru(UA) def. Bybee/Vuckadinovic (UA) 8-3
Singles
Naoko Ueshima(UGA) def. Courtney McLane(UA) 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4
Tiffany Welcher(UA) def. Alex Haney(AU) 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-3
Carolina Escamilla(UK) def. Merritt Emery(UA) 7-6(4), 6-1
Cameron Ellis(UGA) def. Paulina Bigos(UA) 6-4, 6-2
Emily Carbone(Ark) def. Taylor Lindsey(UA) 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2
Shelley Godwin(UA) def. Natalie Pluskota(UT) 6-4, 6-4
Alica Tunaru(UA) def. Heather Bybee(AU) 6-4, 6-3
Players Mentioned
