Results

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s tennis team ran their win streak to three in a row with a 5-2 victory over Lamar Tuesday afternoon at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

The Jaguars have won five of their last six matches to improve to 9-4 while the Cardinals fell to 4-5.

After winning the doubles point, South Alabama claimed singles points from the bottom four spots in the lineup.

“I think it was a big day for us,” USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. “We out-toughed a team that is usually pretty tough and we out-competed a team that competes at a pretty high level. So it was definitely a big step in the right direction for us.”

The tone was set early when South Alabama dropped just three games total in taking the doubles point. Sophomores Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine) and Ramona Ghermani (Bad Wimpfen, Germany) won 8-1 at No. 2, and sophomore Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) and freshman Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia) earned an 8-2 victory at No. 1.

“That was a sample of what I think we can do in doubles,” Keyser said. “That was probably our best doubles point of the year. We played high-percentage shots, put ourselves in the right positions and played with lots of confidence out there.”

The two schools traded the first four singles points. South Alabama put up the first win at No. 6 when Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) took down Natalia Mayagoitia 7-5, 6-1. Lamar’s Carolina Salas used a first-set tiebreaker to defeat Krachok 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at No. 1 and cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Ghermani added to the Jags’ lead in straight sets at No. 4 while Carolina Masó rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Meszarosova 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to keep the Cardinals alive.

On the No. 3 court, Newton clinched the match with a comeback in the second set, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) over Dariya Dashutina.

“Every single match came down to competing,” said Keyser. “That’s the part that I’ve been worried about—when things don’t go our way how we compete—but today definitely we passed that test.”

With the match already decided, sophomore Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.) fell in the first set 6-1, but eventually won in a third-set supertiebreaker 1-6, 6-4, (10-8).

“That’s huge for her, but more importantly, when the other girls see that and see the mentality that she brings, where she plays out matches and always hangs around, hopefully that rubs off on the rest of the team,” Keyser noted.

The Jags embark on a three-match road trip through Florida the rest of the week, starting with a clash against Boston University on Thursday in Orlando.

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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