JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After falling behind 2-0, the University of South Alabama women's tennis team took four of the next five points, including two three-set matches, to defeat North Florida 4-3 Sunday morning at the UNF Tennis Complex.

The Jaguars remain undefeated at 9-0 while the Ospreys drop to 3-4.

DOUBLES
-UNF grabbed a 1-0 lead after doubles, with all three matches decided by a 6-4 score
-Lucia Montano and Florencia Rossi edged senior Alexandria Stiteler and Nikola Kohoutova on court 3, then after Yu Fujioka and Yurie Takanishi downed Valentina Mariotto and Ana Paula Melilo at No. 2, Rafaela Gomez and Constanza Gorches took the doubles point over Patricia Martins and Milka Pasanen on court 1

SINGLES
-The Ospreys went up 2-0 on court 1 thanks to a 6-1, 6-3 victory by Montano over Stiteler
-USA pulled back two points with straight-sets wins on courts 2 and 5; Pasanen defeated Rossi 6-2, 6-3, and Fujioka topped Gomez 6-4, 7-5
-The final three matches of the day went the distance
-Kohoutova gave the Jaguars a 3-2 advantage on court 4 with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Melilo
-Mariotta came back from a first-set loss and blanked junior Leslie Soto in the final two frames to even the match at 3-3, winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3
-Martins clinched the victory with a rally of her own on court 6, defeating Gorches 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

NOTES
-Stiteler suffered her first defeat of the spring, dropping her to 6-1
-Martins won her eighth consecutive match to start the season, one better than Kohoutova, who is 7-0
-South Alabama leads the series with North Florida 10-2 and has won four straight
-Fujioka and Takanishi improved to 5-1 at No. 2 doubles

QUOTES FROM COACH KEYSER
"It was good to get the win but we have plenty to improve. Ugly wins like today build character, especially the ability to win while not having the 'A' or 'B' game working well, but we need to understand the urgency with regards to improving our quality of play as a team."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars host Jackson State on Wednesday 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/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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—