Complete Results

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore Paula Sanchez (Bogota, Columbia) picked up her eighth win this season to clinch the women's tennis team's 5-2 win over Sun Belt Conference foe Texas State on Thursday at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

Sanchez and sophomore Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) claimed their third-straight win when they edged Katy Collins and Eva Dench 8-7 (7-5) at No. 3 to secure the doubles point. Sanchez later won 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 6 flight over Berenice Van den Bergh.

The Jaguars remain undefeated at home with a record of 6-0 and own a 10-1 mark overall. The Bobcats dropped to 7-6 this spring.

"I'm happy for the win," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. "It was an important win. Texas State has been beating up on quite a few of the stronger teams in the conference, so it was nice to have that head-to-head win over them."

South Alabama's first three singles points all came in straight sets. Junior Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) gave the Jags a 2-0 lead when she downed Ana Laura Gutierrez at the No. 3 spot. Freshman Monica Mitta (Fairhope, Ala.) followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Shannon Beckett on the No. 4 court.

Following Sanchez's victory, Jessica Kahts picked up the first point for the Bobcats when she topped sophomore Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia) 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1.

Remaining undefeated with an 11-0 record this spring, freshman Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) rallied to outlast Monica Pieratt 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, (11-9) in the No. 2 flight. Dench claimed the final point for the Bobcats with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over freshman Laura Matuskova (Bratislava, Slovakia) on the No. 5 court.

"Valkova's win was a good one to pull off," said Keyser. "It was probably a result of having won a lot of matches. She didn't really have her 'A' game today, but she got some momentum off her past wins."

In doubles action, Valkova and Mitta claimed their eighth-straight win when they defeated Pieratt and Beckett 8-3 at No. 2. Newton and Meszarosova fell 8-7 (14-12) to Kahts and Gutierrez at the No. 1 spot.

"I am very proud of our effort and the way we compete," said Keyser. "We're starting to do those things really well on a day-to-day basis, but we are going to have to improve our actual quality of play. All of doubles and the first 45 minutes of singles we were like Santa Claus out there with the amount of points we gave away. Hopefully with these 10 days off we can tighten up a little bit. If we can combine our actual quality of play with our effort and the way we compete, we should be dangerous."

South Alabama continues their three-match homestand after an extended break when they host Troy on Friday, March 28 at 1 p.m.

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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