Alabama
Mississippi
Women's Tennis Falls to Mississippi 4-1
4/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 11, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's tennis team (9-11, 2-8 SEC) dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 18 Mississippi (13-4, 7-3 SEC) on Sunday at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium on Senior Day. The Crimson Tide lost a hard-fought doubles point and the Rebels used the momentum to take the victory in singles.
"I thought Mississippi played a good match," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Mississippi is a good team that has had a good season. Credit goes to them today. They brought their best and competed on every court. I thought we did a good job too though. The doubles point came down to a handful of points. Someone had to stand up and take it, and they did. They played the bigger points more effectively today."
Doubles action came down to the wire, with Mississippi able to squeak out the point. Alabama took the first match, as the No. 20-ranked duo of freshman Alexa Guarachi and sophomore Courtney McLane handed 13th-ranked sophomore Kristi Boxx and junior Karen Nijssen an 8-5 loss. The Tide pair raced out to a 7-3 lead, but had to hold off a comeback that included saving a break point on Guarachi's serve at 7-5 to hang on for the win on court one, their fifth win in a row. The Rebels countered by taking the matchup at the No. 2 position by a similar score of 8-5. Sophomore Gabby Rangel and junior Connor Vogel fell behind early to senior Alice Tunaru and freshman Antonia Foehse, but got the match back on serve at 3-3. Rangel and Vogel broke Tunaru to take the lead for good at 5-4, holding serve the rest of the way for the victory.
The doubles point came down to the battle on court three, where once again Alabama had an early lead. Senior Paulina Bigos and junior Meritt Emery held a 3-2 lead, but were broken in consecutive service games to fall behind 5-3 against sophomore Abby Guthrie and junior Laura van de Stroet. Bigos and Emery broke back at 4-6 to get the match on serve, eventually evening the score at 6-6. Guthrie and van de Stroet held at 6-6, putting the pressure on Bigos' serve in the next game. Bigos tossed in a double fault at 30-30, and then Emery pushed a volley long on match point to give Mississippi a 1-0 lead.
The Rebels continued their solid play in singles, taking five of the six first sets to take full control of the match. Mississippi took a 2-0 lead when van de Stroet defeated Bigos 6-3, 6-3 on court five. Van de Stroet broke serve twice in the opening set to take it 6-3, and then staked an insurmountable 5-2 lead in the second to cruise to the victory. The Tide picked up its only point of the day thanks to No. 47 Guarachi, who took care of Nijssen 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Guarachi struggled with her returns in the opening game, but quickly found her rhythm to break twice in the first set. She kept momentum on her side, taking a 4-1 lead in the second set. Nijssen earned the only break of the match to give herself a glimmer of hope at 4-2, but Guarachi broke back and easily served out the match.
The Rebels' No. 57 Boxx gave Mississippi a 3-1 lead, holding off McLane 6-4, 6-2. The players exchanged breaks early in the first before Boxx garnered the pivotal break at 4-4 to take the set. In the second, Boxx broke to open, running away with the win from there. The Rebels clinched the victory with the next match off court, as Vogel fought past Emery 6-4, 6-2. Vogel broke in the opening game of the match, which was the only break she needed in the first set. She broke in consecutive return games in the second for a 4-1 lead, a hole that Emery would fight valiantly to dig out of, but could not do so successfully.
The final two matches were halted when Mississippi clinched the match. On court four, Guthrie fought back from being down an early break to take the first set 6-3. Foehse rebounded in the second, breaking serve three times to take the set 6-2. Momentum swung again early in the third, as Guthrie broke to open the final set. Guthrie held a 2-1 lead when play stopped.
At the No. 6 position, Tunaru raced out to a 3-0 lead, but Rangel won the next three to even the score. The set featured four breaks from there, with Rangel breaking at 6-5 to take the set. The second set saw the players continue to dominate with their return games. It was Tunaru who would battle back from a 2-4 deficit to take a break lead at 5-4. Tunaru held a set point to force a third when play was suspended.
"I was proud of our team effort," Mainz added. "We had a quality win at No. 1 doubles, and Alexa picked up another great, convincing win at No. 2 singles. I'm really proud of everyone today. The entire team was ready to play."
Alabama will play its final regular season match of the season Saturday, April 17 at Auburn. First serve is slated for 6:00 p.m. (CST).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 20 McLane/Guarachi (UA) def. No. 13 Boxx/Nijssen (UM) 8-5
2. Vogel/Rangel (UM) def. Tunaru/Foehse (UA) 8-5
3. Guthrie/van de Stroet (UM) def. Bigos/Emery (UA) 8-6
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. No. 57 Kristi Boxx (UM) def. Courtney McLane (UA) 6-4, 6-2
2. No. 47 Alexa Guarachi (UA) def. Karen Nijssen (UM) 6-2, 6-2
3. No. 101 Connor Vogel (UM) def. Meritt Emery (UA) 6-4, 6-2
4. Antonia Foehse (UA) vs. Abby Guthrie (UM) 3-6, 6-2, 1-2, unf.
5. Laura van de Stroet (UM) def. Paulina Bigos (UA) 6-3, 6-3
6. Alice Tunaru (UA) vs. Gabby Rangel (UM) 5-7, 5-4, unf.
Order of Finish: 5,2,1,3*
Players Mentioned
