NEW ORLEANS — The 12th-seeded University of South Alabama women’s tennis team fell to Louisiana at Monroe 4-0 Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament after picking up their second win of the season against Western Kentucky 4-2 that morning.

"We put forth a good effort in the morning, but we laid an egg in the afternoon," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. "This is the end of a long and dissapointing season. Regardless of circumstances, it was a low point for our tennis program. We will use this as motivation and make sure a debacle like this never repeats itself."

In their first match of the day, USA (2-13) claimed the doubles point in quick fashion, dominating WKU by a combined score of 16-1. Sophomores Katie Welch (Mobile, Ala.) and Marie Boura (Paris, France) won 8-1 at No. 1 and sophomore Chané Hines (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Jess Courtnell (Newcastle, England) blanked the Hilltoppers’ pair at No. 2, 8-0.

After two forfeit wins for Western Kentucky at the bottom of the order made the score 2-1, Courtnell picked up her first career singles win 6-1, 6-1 over Katie DiTommaso at No. 4. Welch followed with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 and Hines clinched the match 6-0, 6-2 over Carrie True at No. 3.

In the second round, the Jags battled the No. 5 seed, ULM. The Warhawks’ Monica Winkel and Claire Clark earned the doubles point quickly with an 8-1 victory over Welch and Boura on the No. 1 court.

Louisiana at Monroe earned points at Nos. 5 and 6 by default giving them the 3-0 lead heading into singles action. Winkel sealed the deal for the Warhawks at the No. 2 flight downing the Jaguars’ Boura in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.   

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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