Results
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s tennis team defeated Xavier of Louisiana 6-1 Saturday at Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
The Jaguars blanked the Gold Nuggets in doubles and picked up five straight-set wins in singles.
“I’m glad we got this match in,” said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. “We had quite a few things to work on in match and pressure situations. I feel like we got some good repetitions in today as well.”
The USA tandem of freshmen Ramona Ghermani (Bad Wimpfen, Germany) and Veronika Kalugina (Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia) swept Xavier’s Ashley McGill and Amanda Materre 8-0 at the No. 3 spot. Senior Chané Hines (Johannesburg, South Africa) and sophomore Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) quickly followed with an 8-1 win over Kourtney Howell and Nicole DeLoach at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point for the Jags.
Freshmen Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine) and Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.) also defeated Amber Brown and Jordyn Goody 8-1.
“We did a lot better in doubles today,” said Keyser. “We played with a little more confidence and urgency. Our execution was also much better.”
Ghermani took the first singles point of the match at the No. 4 flight with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Goody. Martin followed with a win over DeLoach 6-1, 6-0. Krachok secured the win for South Alabama on the No. 3 court with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Materre.
“In singles we did a real solid job today on getting the lead,” said Keyser. “And also not letting our opponents get a look into the matches.”
Also picking up wins for USA were senior Alina Volman (Lugansk, Ukraine) defeating Brown 6-4, 6-0 and Kalugina taking the victory over McGill 6-2, 6-4.
Howell won the only point for Xavier after outlasting Hines 6-1, 2-6, (10-5).
“Overall we had a good day,” said Keyser. “Hopefully we can carry it over tomorrow.”
The Jaguars are back in action Sunday as they take on Middle Tennessee State at 10 a.m. at Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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