Alabama
Auburn
No. 24 Women's Tennis Dominates No. 33 Auburn 4-0
4/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 23, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The 24th-ranked women's tennis team (15-7) battled windy conditions Thursday to beat No. 33 Auburn (11-12) for the second time in six days with a 4-0 sweep in the first round of the SEC Tournament at the Billingsley Tennis Center. Junior Paulina Bigos delivered the match-clinching victory at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Tiger senior Whitney Chappell.
"We came out ready today," said head coach Jenny Mainz. "We played disciplined tennis and played within ourselves. I also thought we showed a lot of maturity in managing the conditions we had to play under. On a day like today it is going to be ugly tennis, but you still have to find a way to get it done. I am very impressed with the way we handled it."
Once again Alabama captured the doubles point from Auburn, but this time was dominant from the start. Junior Alice Tunaru and sophomore Tiffany Welcher were the first pair off the court picking up an 8-2 victory over freshman Taylor Schreimann and Chappell at No. 3. Securing the doubles point moments later for the Tide was senior Shelley Godwin and Bigos on court two. The match was close early on, but the Alabama duo would come out on top earning an 8-3 decision over junior Myrthe Molenveld and freshman Daniela Vukadinovic.
"The pivotal point for us was grabbing the doubles point," added Mainz. "We played a lot better doubles this time around. That convincing lead in doubles certainly gave us confidence and momentum in singles."
Godwin gave Alabama its first singles point with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 6 over junior Heather Bybee. The Tide senior jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set and never looked back. In the second, the set started out 1-1 before Godwin won the final five games. With Alabama winning first sets on the remaining five courts it was yet to be determined where the next points would come from.
After losing Saturday 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to No. 26 Haney, freshman Courtney McLane was eager to have another opportunity against the Tiger senior just days later. The Tide freshman took that opportunity and ran with it from the beginning taking a 4-1 lead in the first. Haney would win one more game in the set before McLane closed out the set at 6-2. The second remained on serve until McLane was able to go up a break at 4-2. Haney battled back to set the score at 5-4, but could not stop McLane as she won the second 6-4 and put Alabama within one point of the match win.
At first it would appear that Welcher was going to grab that final point, but Chifchieva used a late surge in the second set to force a third. At that point, it would be Bigos who was closest to closing things out for the Tide. After an easy 6-2 win in the first over Chappell at No. 3, the Alabama netter found herself down 3-1 in the next set. Bigos slowly began to inch her way back into contention eventually tying the set at 4-4. It was then that she put it into high gear and wound up winning the next two games to win the second 6-4 and give Alabama the 4-0 sweep over its instate rival.
The Tide will face top-seeded Georgia on Friday in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The match is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. (CST).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. McLane/Lindsey (UA) vs. Chifchieva/Haney (AU) 7-4, unf.
2. Bigos/Godwin (UA) def. Molenveld/Vukadinovic (AU) 8-3
3. Welcher/Tunaru (UA) def. Chappell/Schreimann (AU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3,2
Singles
1. No. 79 Tiffany Welcher (UA) vs. No. 6 Fani Chifchieva (AU) 6-4, 5-7, 0-2, unf.
2. Courtney McLane (UA) def. No. 26 Alex Haney (AU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Paulina Bigos (UA) def. Whitney Chappell (AU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Meritt Emery (UA) vs. Myrthe Molenveld (AU) 6-4, 2-1, unf.
5. Taylor Lindsey (UA) Jil Hastenrath (AU) 7-5, 2-0, unf.
6. Shelley Godwin (UA) def. Heather Bybee (AU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6,2,3*
Players Mentioned
