Alabama Fights its Way to 4-2 Victory Over Mississippi State in Starkville

Sunday, March 17

Starkville, Miss.

12 p.m. CT

Alabama

Mississippi State

Alabama Fights its Way to 4-2 Victory Over Mississippi State in Starkville

3/17/2019 3:40:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Results (PDF)

Sophomore Moka Ito clinched the match by defeating No. 81 Emma Antonaki

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sophomore Moka Ito clinched the fourth and final point to give Alabama the 4-2 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starville, Miss. With the win the Crimson Tide moves to 13-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play, while the Bulldogs drop to 11-6 on the year and 2-3 in league action.

"It was a great all-around team effort," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Winning on the road on Sunday in the SEC is a hard thing to do. I told the team that it's about grit and it's about heart and I'm so proud of this team for staying the course. We played with a lot of determination and made up our minds that we were going to be a high-energy and positive team today, regardless of what happens. We decided after the loss at Ole Miss and after losing the doubles point that we were going to remain positive and we did that today, I'm so proud of them."

Mississippi State started the match by stealing the doubles point with victories on courts two and one.

The Tide had an answer in singles play with junior Luca Fabian controlling her match on court five and coming away with a 6-2, 6-2 win to tie it up at 1-1. After a Bulldogs win on court four, Alabama again answered with a victory on court six from junior Ann Selim who defeated Janina Braun, 6-2, 6-4.

With the match knotted at 2-2, senior No. 66 Andie Daniell battled to a 7-6(5), 6-3, win over No. 113 Magda Adaloglou on court one to give the Crimson Tide the 3-2 advantage. Later on, Ito clinched the final point against No. 81 Emma Antonaki in a three-set thriller, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and marked the first loss at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre for MSU.

Next up, the Crimson Tide will be back home for a match against Auburn on Friday, March 22 at 5 p.m. The match will be played at the Alabama Tennis Stadium and streamed live via RollTide.com.

Alabama Results

Doubles

Adaloglou/Racine def. Daniell/Ito, 6-4
Antonaki/Rentouli def. Cortina Pou/Fabian, 6-3
Braun/Lizariturry vs. Gintrand/Selim, 5-4, unf.

Order of Finish: 2, 1

Singles

No. 66 Andie Daniell def. No. 113 Magda Adaloglou, 7-6(5), 6-3
Moka Ito def. No. 81 Emma Antonaki, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Anastasia Rentouli vs. Jacqueline Pelletier, 6-2, 5-4, unf.
Tamara Racine def. Alba Cortina Pou, 6-3, 6-4
Luca Fabian def. Sara Lizariturry, 6-2, 6-2
Ann Selim def. Janina Braun, 6-2, 6-4

Order of Finish: 5, 4, 6, 1, 2

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