Alabama
Penn
No. 15 Women's Tennis Sweeps Past Penn, 5-0
1/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 15 Alabama women's tennis team opened up the 2016 dual match season with a 5-0 win over the Penn Quakers (0-1) Saturday afternoon in ITA Kick-Off Weekend action. The Crimson Tide closed out a competitive doubles point before recording four straight-set victories in singles.
"Our crowd was tremendous today," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "It really creates an exciting, electric aura throughout the facility. Our fans definitely give us a competitive advantage here at home."
Alabama and Penn were locked in a battle early on in doubles play. At the second spot, juniors Joanna Nena Savva and Danielle Spielmann fell behind by a break at 2-0, but rallied back to earn two breaks of their own for a 4-3 lead. Savva came up with a few crafty volleys in the final game to close out the 6-4 win over Ria Vaidya and Marta Kowalska. The Tide's top duo of freshman Andie Daniell and junior Erin Routliffe provided the clinching victory, knocking off the Quakers' Kana Daniel and Sonya Latycheva 6-2. The 48th-ranked pair in the nation, Daniel and Routliffe broke for a 2-1 lead and secured a second break at 5-2.
Alabama took full control of the match once singles got underway. Spielmann recorded a 6-0 first set on court four against Latycheva, but was not able to close out the second set as easily. Latycheva pulled even at 4-4 before Spielmann took the final two games for the 6-0, 6-4 triumph. Senior Natalia Maynetto won by the exact same score, fighting back from a break in the second set against Luba Vazhenina at the fifth position.
That put the Tide ahead 3-0 and in need of only one more singles victory. Sophomore Bennett Dunn came through, picking up a 6-2, 6-3 decision against OJ Singh at the sixth spot. Dunn won the first five games of the match, and after allowing Singh to get within 5-2, served out the set easily. The second set was tight most of the way, with Dunn able to produce some of her best tennis to close it out in straight sets. Routliffe was one point away from winning her match on court two when Dunn clinched, claiming it 7-5, 6-1 seconds after Dunn's win.
The defeat of the Quakers puts the Tide into tomorrow's championship match against No. 40 Texas at 2 p.m. CT. The winner of that match will earn a berth into the 2016 ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Feb. 5-8.
"We played the big points well today," Mainz added. "We were successful on the 30-30s and the deuce points, which tells me that we did a great job of playing decisive tennis. I don't think we necessarily have to play bigger or play better tomorrow against Texas, but we just have to continue to play decisively."
Sunday's match with the Longhorns also marks the program's annual Power of Pink match to help generate awareness for breast cancer research.
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