Results

MOBILE, Ala. – The No. 41 University of South Alabama women's tennis team lost just three games in doubles and swept the bottom three spots in the singles lineup for a 6-1 victory over Louisiana Tech Tuesday afternoon at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

The Jaguars rebound from a loss in their last match and improve to 11-4 on the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 10-3.

"I'm excited about this one; that was a really good win," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "That team is having a great year. I know a lot of their players and they are super talented. To get a pretty comfortable win, that's exciting."

South Alabama took an early 1-0 lead after quickly taking the doubles points on courts 2 and 3. Freshman Alina Zolotareva (Barnaul, Russia) and junior Laura Matuskova (Bratislava, Slovakia) defeated Taly Merker and Manoela Chiacchio 6-2 at No. 3, and freshman Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.) and senior Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) downed Jazmin Britos and Marta Sramkova 6-1 at No. 2.

"That was one of the best doubles points we've played all year," Keyser stated. "We came out, executed our first exchanges – serve and return – and from there, we were just in position to roll."

Papke and Zolotareva helped the Jags take a 3-0 lead on courts 5 and 6. Papke started things off with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Alba Escalona Perny, and Zolotareva rallied from an early deficit to defeat Chiacchio 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

"Good teams are strong at the bottom," Keyser noted. "For our depth to show up and get the scoreboard pressure on them, that's huge."

Stiteler, ranked No. 47 in singles, extended her win streak to 11 and clinched the match on court 1, topping Starkova 6-4, 7-5.

"With it being a little windy and not great conditions, I thought we out-toughed them," Keyser said. "We're a lot tougher within the matches, we competed a little harder, and from a coaching standpoint, that's exciting to see."

Matuskova increased her unbeaten run to nine with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Zoe Chen at No. 4, before the final two matches were decided in supertiebreakers. Sramkova earned La Tech's point at No. 3 over senior Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia), 5-7, 6-3, (10-6), and Valkova downed Britos 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, (10-7).

"If we can continue to keep getting better, we'll be in good shape by the end of the year," Keyser said.

The Jaguars will take a day off before hosting Virginia Commonwealth Thursday 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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