Alabama
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Mississippi State
No. 16 Women's Tennis Sweeps No. 46 Mississippi State
3/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 15, 2009
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The 16th-ranked women's tennis team (12-1, 3-1 SEC) got back to its winning ways Sunday with a 7-0 victory at No. 46 Mississippi State (8-3, 0-3 SEC). The Crimson Tide grabbed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 and won at all six singles positions.
"I have to commend the team for how well they responded after losing Friday's match," said head coach Jenny Mainz. "They came out ready to play from the beginning. This was a great show of tenacity and just an overall great team effort today. You can always expect a fight from Mississippi State. This was a convincing win for us, and I think the way we responded revealed a lot of character."
Alabama earned the early advantage after picking up its first doubles point in SEC play. Despite falling behind early, the Tide's 64th-ranked pair of sophomore Tiffany Welcher and freshman Courtney McLane rallied back to beat seniors Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers 8-5 at the No. 1 position. Securing the doubles point for Alabama was the 79th-ranked duo of junior Paulina Bigos and freshman Taylor Lindsey, who never trailed, en route to an 8-2 victory over freshmen Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva on court two. At No. 3, senior Shelley Godwin and sophomore Meritt Emery found themselves down for nearly the entire match before winning three consecutive games to take the 7-6 edge over Mississippi State senior Daniela Juskova and junior Radka Ferancova. Juskova and Ferancova would not go away though and won the final three games to take the 9-7 win.
"We made up our minds early on that we were going to take charge and get the doubles point," said Mainz. "After earning that doubles point we had a lot of confidence going into singles."
No. 82 Welcher got the Tide off to a solid start in singles with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 win over Banikova at No. 1. Next off the court was McLane at No. 2 defeating Tsigvintseva. The Alabama freshman was down early in the first, but earned a break late in the set to take the 6-4 win. In similar fashion to her match on Friday, the second set went into a tiebreak where McLane took the 7-6(4) advantage to put the Tide in front 3-0. Clinching the win for Alabama was none other than Godwin at No. 5 with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Mayuk. This was Godwin's third match-clinching performance in the last four outings. Lindsey, after falling 6-4 in the first set to junior Valeriya Makarycheva, battled back to take the second 7-5 and won the third set in a super tiebreak to remain undefeated in singles play this season. Next off the court was Emery at No. 4 who had an easy time with de Villiers winning 6-2, 6-4. Completing the sweep for the Tide at No. 3 was Bigos. The Alabama junior fell 6-2 in the first set but came back composed and won the second in a tiebreak 7-6(3). The third set was just as close before Bigos closed it out with a 7-5 victory.
"Tiffany (Welcher) really got us some momentum and gave us a boost with such a quick win," added Mainz. Paulina (Bigos) bounced back after being in the exact same situation on Friday, and Courtney (McLane) put it away with a big tiebreak in the second set. "I think everyone really stepped up big today."
The Tide will have a week off from competition before hosting No. 57 Oregon on Monday, March 23 at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium. Opening serve is slated for 3:00 p.m. (CST).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 64 McLane/Welcher (UA) def. Banikova/de Villers (MSU) 8-5
2. No. 79 Bigos/Lindsey (UA) def. Mayuk/Tsigvintseva (MSU) 8-2
3. Ferancova/Juskova (MSU) def. Godwin/Emery (UA) 9-7
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. No. 82 Tiffany Welcher (UA) def. Martina Banikova (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Courtney McLane (UA) def. Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(4)
3. Paulina Bigos (UA) def. Radka Ferancova (MSU) 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5
4. Meritt Emery (UA) def. Elna de Villiers (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Shelley Godwin (UA) def. Natalia Mayuk (MSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
6. Taylor Lindsey (UA) def. junior Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(4)
Order of Finish: 1,2,5*,6,4,3
Players Mentioned
