Results

NEW ORLEANS – Junior Laura Matuskova (Bratislava, Slovakia) took the clinching point as the No. 2 seed University of South Alabama women's tennis team came away with a 4-3 victory over No. 3 seed Texas-Arlington Saturday at the City Park Tennis Center. 

With the win, the Jaguars move on to face No. 1 seed Georgia State in the championship round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Sunday at 10 a.m.

"I'm excited," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. "We played Georgia State a couple weeks ago and had a 4-3 match with them. This is the third or fourth year we are in the finals, so I think we're used to it. We should come out strong and relaxed, and I'm just looking for another good battle tomorrow."

After going down 2-1, seniors Cinta Maria Papke (Flein, Germany) and Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia) took two singles points to put the Jags up 3-2. Papke dropped Jessica Birowski 6-3, 6-1 on court No. 4, and Meszarosova won 6-3, 6-3 over Astrid Gehre on the No. 5 court. 

Agustina Serio tied it at 3-3 by defeating junior Monica Mitta (Fairhope, Ala.) 6-0, 7-5 at No. 3. 

Matuskova secured the victory for USA with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Carla Cerdan Vives on court No. 6. 

"In order to be a good team, you've got to be solid in the bottom of the lineup, and that really showed up today," Keyser said. "Our top of the lineup carried us all year long, so on a day where they come up short, for the bottom of the lineup to come up was huge."

Earlier in singles, Elizabeth Thoms beat freshman Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.), ranked No. 94 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1, and Angeles de los Rios won 6-2, 6-4 over junior Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) on the No. 2 court to put the Mavericks up 2-1.

UTA started off doubles with a 6-2 win from Serio and Valeria Lopez over Mitta and freshman Alina Zolotareva (Barnaul, Russia) at No. 3. The Jaguars fought back to tie it 1-1 when Papke and Stiteler topped Birowski and Gehre 6-4 on court No. 2. Meszarosova and Valkova clinched the doubles point by beating Rios and Thoms 6-4 at No. 1.

"Doubles was key," said Keyser. "They came out and jumped on us, but we stayed the course. We didn't panic and kept on chipping away, and that was a huge point today."

Sunday will mark the Jaguars' third straight appearance in the finals. They lost to Georgia State 4-3 in the regular season finale, and 4-1 in the 2014 finals. The Panthers have won four of the last five meetings.

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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