Results

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – The No. 4 seed University of South Alabama women's tennis team defeated No. 1 Troy 4-1 Saturday in the Sun Belt Conference Championships semifinals at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
 
The Jaguars advance to the final to face No. 2 Georgia State Sunday at 9 a.m.
 
DOUBLES
-Junior Alina Zolotareva (Barnaul, Russia) and freshman Nikola Kohoutova (Kralupy Nad Vltavou, Czech Republic) swept Pei Ju Hsieh and Maria Casas Blas 6-0 on court 3.
-At No. 1, freshmen Milka Pasanen (Pieksamaki, Finland) and Maxine Palmen (Sittard, Netherlands) secured the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Sanae Ohta and Nancy Karaky.
 
SINGLES
-To start singles, junior Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.), ranked No. 111 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, dropped Ohta 6-2, 6-1 on court 1.
-Kohoutova put the Jaguars up 3-0 by defeating Blas 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6, but Troy bounced back when Palmen fell to Karaky 6-4, 6-2 on court 4.
-Zolotareva clinched the victory for USA by downing Herlina Efriliya 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2.
 
NOTES
-The Jags improve to 20-3 on the year, while Troy falls to 9-11.
-This will be South Alabama's fifth straight appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Final, including last season when the Jaguars fell to ULM 4-3.
-Stiteler improved to 17-2 in singles this season. She holds the school record for win percentage at the No. 1 flight (.817) and ranks second for total wins at the No. 1 flight (49).
-Freshman Yu Fujioka (Funabashi, Japan) is undefeated in singles at 21-0 this spring. She holds the record for highest win percentage in a single season and most wins at the No. 3 flight in South Alabama history.
-USA and Georgia State played earlier this season, when the Jaguars defeated Panthers 4-3 in Atlanta.
-South Alabama has a 12-5 series lead over Georgia State, and the Jags have won the last two meetings.
-GSU is 11-14 on the year, and the team is led by Sun Belt Player of the Year Kristin Rehse, who went 15-6 in singles this season.
 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KEYSER
"I'm very excited to be back in the finals. We had a great day overall. It's another 20-win season, and the consistency, even with a young team, to give ourselves another shot at the title five years in a row. We don't want to fool anyone that this was an upset. It was a strange year with seeding, but we definitely felt that, with our body of work, we should have been one of the top two seeds. I'm looking forward to a great challenge tomorrow. If we trust our ability and stick with what we work on in practice, I feel confident that we have a great opportunity to come out on top."
 
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).
 
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub
 
—USA—