Alabama
Arkansas
Women's Tennis Takes Down Arkansas, 4-3
4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 1, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 35th-ranked women's tennis team posted a 4-3 win over No. 15 Arkansas on Friday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The Crimson Tide (10-5, 3-3 SEC) took the doubles point and earned three singles victories to take down the Razorbacks (13-7, 3-4 SEC) for Alabama's third-consecutive Southeastern Conference victory.
"Today's match was hard-fought both ways," Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Arkansas is a very good team, and they compete extremely well. I am proud of our team for staying in the match. We were down on several singles courts, and I like the way we responded. We competed well on every point and stayed the course to fight our way back in. When it had to be taken, we did a good job of capitalizing. We showed up ready from the first point, and I am really proud of this team for another great win."
What started as an on-serve match on court one quickly turned into a rout as Alabama's 15th-ranked tandem of sophomore Alexa Guarachi and junior Courtney McLane downed Arkansas' No. 24 team of senior Anouk Tigu and sophomore Claudine Paulson, 8-2. The Tide secured the doubles point with a win on court three as the Alabama pair of 60th-ranked sophomore Antonia Foehse and freshman Mary Anne Macfarlane held off a late rally by Razorback freshman Jade Frampton and sophomore Valentina Starkova, 8-4, after being up 7-2. On court two, Arkansas juniors Kate Lukomskaya and Stephanie Roy prevented the sweep, and a late resurgence by Alabama freshman Alex Clay and junior Taylor Lindsey, as they held on for the 8-6 win.
In singles, Alabama's McLane, ranked 111th, finished first, defeating Lukomskaya of Arkansas 6-4, 6-1 to give the Tide the 2-0 lead. Arkansas struck back moments later as Roy beat Guarachi, 6-2, 6-3 to give the Razorbacks their first point of the match.
Clay rebounded from being down early in the first set to win next, finishing off the Razorbacks' Paulson, 7-5, 6-2, to put the Tide one win away from victory. The next court to finish, however, notched another point for the Razorbacks on court six as Frampton kept Arkansas in contention with her 7-6(4), 6-2 win over senior Merritt Emery setting the match score at 3-2.
In thrilling fashion, Foehse came back on court five after dropping the first set 6-4 win the final two sets 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the win for the Tide. In the last match of the night, No. 40 Macfarlane was outlasted by No. 27 Tigu in a heated battle that went back-and-forth throughout, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6.
Next up, Alabama hosts No. 53 LSU on Sunday, April 3. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 15 Guarachi/McLane (UA) def. No. 24 Tigu/Paulson (ARK) 8-2
2. Lukomskaya/Roy (ARK) def. Clay/Lindsey (UA) 8-6
3. No. 60 Foehse/Macfarlane (UA) def. Frampton/Starkova (ARK) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. No. 27 Anouk Tigu (ARK) def. No. 40 Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. No. 85 Alexa Guarachi (UA) 6-2, 6-3
3. No. 111 Courtney McLane (UA) def. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) 6-4, 6-1
4. Alex Clay (UA) def. Claudine Paulson (ARK) 7-5, 6-2
5. Antonia Foehse (UA) def. Emily Carbone (ARK) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
6. Jade Frampton (ARK) def. Meritt Emery (UA) 7-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3,2,4,6,5*,1
Players Mentioned
