Alabama
Day One
Women's Tennis has Stellar Start to Southern Regionals
10/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 23, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - The women's tennis team enjoyed a successful start to the 2009 Wilson/ITA Southern Regional Championships winning all nine of the matches it appeared in. Four of the Crimson Tide's wins came in doubles, while the remaining five victories were picked up in singles.
"I was really pleased with our first day," said head coach Jenny Mainz. "We did a nice job getting things started early today with great energy in doubles. Another encouraging sign was that we continued to get better as the day went on."
In doubles, senior Paulina Bigos and sophomore Taylor Lindsey had two convincing wins taking down Samford junior Andrie Meiring and sophomore Rebecca Kirven 8-3 before dominating Troy senior Stephanie Vieira and sophomore Gabriella Veiga 8-1. Sophomore Courtney McLane and freshman Alexa Guarachi also had a pair of solid victories downing Mississippi State senior Valeriya Makarycheva and freshman Danielle Terpko 8-2 in the Round of 32 followed by an 8-4 win over junior Evelien Strijker and sophomore Paula Alvarez of UAB.
All five of Alabama's singles wins came in straight sets. Both Lindsey and Bigos took on competitors from Louisiana-Lafayette with Lindsey winning 6-2, 6-4 against junior Mia Gordon and Bigos picking up a 6-0 7-6 win over junior Julie Mazinova. Guarachi had an easy time with Mississippi State junior Elizabeth Hall downing the Bulldog 6-0, 6-1, while McLane took down South Alabama redshirt freshman Marie Boura 6-3, 6-2. Also competing for the Tide was senior Alice Tunaru, who grabbed a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Auburn freshman Caroline Thornton.
"The second doubles match Courtney and Alexa had today was one of the best doubles matches we've seen played at Alabama," added Mainz. "Going into this tournament, we talked about being a consistent team beginning with the first ball. I thought today we did that, but we need to be sure to continue that effort tomorrow."
Alabama returns to the courts Saturday at 8:30 a.m. (CST) with one round of doubles followed by two rounds of singles.
RESULTS
Doubles
Round of 32
Bigos/Lindsey (UA) def. Meiring/Kirven (SAM) 8-3
No. 43 McLane/Guarachi (UA) def. Makarycheva/Terpko (MSU) 8-2
Round of 16
Bigos/Lindsey (UA) def. Vieira/Veiga (TROY) 8-1
No. 43 McLane/Guarachi (UA) def. Strijker/Alvarez (UAB) 8-4
Singles
Round of 32
Taylor Lindsey (UA) def. Mia Gordon (ULL) 6-2, 6-4
Paulina Bigos (UA) def. Julie Mazinova (ULL) 6-0, 7-6
Alexa Guarachi (UA) def. Elizabeth Hall (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 61 Courtney McLane (UA) def. Marie Boura (USA) 6-3, 6-2
Alice Tunaru (UA) def. Caroline Thornton (AU) 6-2, 6-4
Players Mentioned
