Results

NEW ORLEANS – The No. 2 seed University of South Alabama's women's tennis team claimed its first match of the Sun Belt Championships with a 4-0 win over No. 7 Texas State on Friday at the City Park Tennis Courts.

USA is ranked No. 53 with an overall record of 20-5, while Texas State's spring season ends at 9-13.

The win is the second consecutive time the Jags defeated Texas State in the quarterfinals of the SBC Championships. South Alabama's all-time record against Texas State improves to 6-0.

"We played well, and it started with the doubles point. We came out and executed at a pretty solid level, and it carried over into singles," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "We got off to some good starts, and that's stuff we do in practice, so it's good to see. Obviously the matches where we got the lead, we got up on the scoreboard and closed those matches out.

"More importantly for us, a couple of the courts we got a slow start, but we didn't panic. We stayed the course, and kept on executing our game plan. Those are the important matches as we move forward."

Junior Monica Mitta (Fairhope, Ala.) and freshman Alina Zolotareva (Barnaul, Russia) began doubles play with a 6-0 victory over Katy Collins and Ammaarah Tim. To clinch the doubles point for the Jags, senior Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislavia, Slovakia) and junior Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) blanked Ana Perez and Yadira Rubio 6-0.

In singles action, No. 94 freshman Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.) defeated Eva Dench 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 1 court. On the No. 6 court, junior Laura Matuskova (Bratislavia, Slovakia) won over Tim in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

Sealing the match for the Jags, senior Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) claimed a victory over Rubio 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 3 slot.

The Jaguars take on Texas-Arlington in the semifinals of the SBC Championships on Saturday at 10 a.m. It will be a rematch of last year's Sun Belt finals, where South Alabama came away with its 17th conference title.       

"It's exciting because it's the third, fourth year now where both of the teams are good," Keyser said. "The Sun Belt Conference from top to bottom is probably one of the strongest conferences we've had in a long time."

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).

—USA—