Results
MOBILE, Ala. – No. 58 Tulane took all three doubles matches and won five singles matches to defeat the University of South Alabama women’s tennis team 6-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
The Green Wave halt the Jaguars’ nine-match win streak to improve to 16-5. South Alabama drops to 13-5.
“Give credit to Tulane; they played a good match,” said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. “I thought we played a little bit tight, especially in doubles, and there was a carryover effect in singles. Some of it is due to playing a good team. They take you out of your comfort zone. That’s just something we have to get used to. Overall, I thought we played some good tennis. We were just playing from behind the whole time. Their players did a good job of staying in their range and not really hurting themselves.”
The Jags, who had won nine of their last 10 doubles matches, were swept for just the second time all season.
Tulane’s Lindsay Dvorak and Hila Elster got on the board at No. 3 with an 8-5 win over sophomore Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) and freshman Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine). The Green Wave’s combo of Caroline Magnusson and Caroline Thornton finished off the doubles point with an 8-4 win at No. 2.
“In regards to our structure we played well,” said Keyser. “Positioning-wise we were really good. It was kind of like we were trying too hard, to be honest, and not letting the game flow a little bit better. We played slightly tight and it hurt us there for awhile.”
Mariam Kurdadze and Thornton put Tulane on top 3-0 with two straight-set victories on the No. 1 and No. 3 courts. Dvorak clinched the win for the Green Wave with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Krachok at the No. 6 spot.
Freshman Ramona Ghermani (Bad Wimpfen, Germany) fell 6-4, 4-6, (10-6) to Emma Levy on the No. 6 court, while Newton picked up the only point for the Jaguars when she defeated Magnusson 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the No. 4 flight.
“Tulane is a good team that knows how to ride momentum,” said Keyser. “They got the doubles point and jumped on us early in singles and didn’t really give us too many looks in the matches. We didn’t help ourselves in regards to ball control and building points, but our body language was good, the effort was good. When you control those things with adversity, it’s going to help us next week at the conference tournament.”
The Jaguars return to action April 19 in Denton, Texas for the Sun Belt Championships.
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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