Alabama
Auburn
Alabama Women's Tennis Tops Auburn, 7-0
4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 16, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 23rd-ranked women's tennis team (15-5, 8-3 SEC) closed out the 2011 regular season with a 7-0 win over Auburn (5-17, 1-10 SEC) on Saturday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The victory marked the first sweep for the Crimson Tide over the Tigers since 2004.
"This was a very strong finish to the regular season," Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz said. "I have a lot of respect for Auburn. They have had a tough season with injuries and being undermanned because of that. They fought hard on every court, but we kept doing the things we needed to in order to get the win. That is indicative of the work we have done to get to this point. I am really pleased with the performances tonight."
Alabama quickly posted the first win in doubles as its 80th-ranked team of sophomore Antonia Foehse and freshman Mary Anne Macfarlane dominated Auburn junior Taylor Schreimann and freshman Taylor Cohen, 8-0. The point was secured for the Tide on court two with junior Taylor Lindsey and freshman Alex Clay posting an 8-3 victory over sophomores Paulina Schippers and Caroline Thornton. Alabama junior Courtney McLane and sophomore Alexa Guarachi, ranked 10th in the nation, completed the doubles sweep as they earned an 8-2 victory over sophomore Plamena Kurteva and freshman Jacqueline Kasler on court one.
Senior Meritt Emery put the Tide up 2-0 as she collected the first win in singles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court six over Schreimann. Clay followed that up with a 6-0, 6-3 victory on court four to put Alabama one point away from the team win. Clay cruised through the first set not dropping a game, but found herself behind 2-0 in the second. She battled back to take six of the final seven games for the win. Guarachi, ranked 113th in the nation, provided the clinching win for Alabama on court two as she downed Schippers 6-3, 6-3.
The Tide continued to rack up the wins in singles as McLane was next to finish with a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Kurteva on court three. From there, No. 33 Macfarlane made the score 6-0 as she rallied from being down in her second set to win 6-2, 7-5 over Thornton on court one. Foehse completed the sweep on court five as she topped Arechavaleta 6-3, 7-5 for the win.
Next up, Alabama begins play at the 2011 Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Tournament on Friday, April 22, at 8 a.m. CT. The Tide earned a first round bye by virtue of its No. 4 seeding and will take on the winner of the Vanderbilt/Mississippi State match.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 10 Guarachi/McLane (UA) def. Kurteva/Kasler (AU) 8-2
2. Clay/Lindsey (UA) def. Thornton/Schippers (AU) 8-3
3. No. 80 Foehse/Macfarlane (UA) def. Schreimann/Cohen (AU) 8-0
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles
1. No. 33 Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) def. Caroline Thornton (AU) 6-2, 7-5
2. No. 113 Alexa Guarachi (UA) def. Paulina Schippers (AU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Courtney McLane (UA) def. Plamena Kurteva (AU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Alex Clay (UA) def. Jacqueline Kasler (AU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Antonia Foehse (UA) def. Maria Arechavaleta (AU) 6-3, 7-5
6. Meritt Emery (UA) def. Taylor Schreimann (AU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 6,4,2*,3,1,5
Players Mentioned
