Complete Results

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team won their 17th consecutive match to open the 2015 season, defeating Jackson State 7-0 Tuesday at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

The win is the Jaguars' fourth straight shutout and marks the most victories by the program since going 19-5 in 2008.

"It was good to get some matches in as we lead into this final stretch, and I thought the girls played pretty good," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "We played some really good doubles, and in singles, we got a couple of girls in there that don't usually play, and they looked pretty solid as well.

"We spoke about not getting too excited about matches and guarding against getting sloppy. Up until now they've done a great job at it and today is a good example. The output, body language and intensity was the exact same as what we've had the rest of the season."

The Jags lost just two games to claim the doubles point, and junior Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia) wasted little time increasing the lead to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 2 over Ilona Zuishliuk.

Senior Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.) added to the advantage on the No. 4 court, winning 6-1, 6-1 against Bright Phakamad, and fellow senior Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) clinched the match, taking Julia Angermann 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.

Sophomore Monica Mitta (Fairhope, Ala.) stayed unbeaten at the top two spots in the lineup when she got past Anastasia Zvyahintseva 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 1, and juniors Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) and Paula Sanchez (Bogota, Colombia) won 6-2, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-4 at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

"I like to see our depth," Keyser said. "I think we if we're going to do well in the postseason, we've got to have strong depth. If something happens, we have to be able to slide people in there and I think we can do that."

USA took the early 1-0 lead with a pair of 6-1 victories. Newton and sophomore Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) teamed up at No. 1 to improve their record to 9-0, and Sanchez and Papke closed it out at No. 3.

"Doubles has been great for a couple of weeks now," Keyser said. "We do work a lot on doubles, but I wasn't sure about the doubles coming into the season. I think the teams are set, and what they do well are the basics and fundamentals. They're executing that at a pretty high level and that should give us a chance in most matches."

South Alabama takes on its first ranked opponent of the season, No. 47 Tulane Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m.

"I'm excited about our last three matches," Keyser said. "Obviously we'd love to win these matches, but at the same time, it's all preparation for the (Sun Belt) Conference Tournament. Having said that, I think we're set up good where we can get a couple of these matches, but it will be very interesting to see how we respond."

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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