MOBILE, Ala. – After dropping the doubles point, South Alabama Women's Tennis fought back in singles play to defeat Northwestern State, 4-2, Friday afternoon at Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
 
The victory improved the Jaguars' record to 4-1 overall on the year.
 
Jade Marie got the scoring going for the Jags by earning a clean sweep of her opponent from Northwestern State. She quickly got South on the board with a 6-0, 6-0 victory. She was followed by Rio Maeda, who also recorded a straight-sets victory with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
 
The remainder of the matches would go the distance, requiring three sets to declare a winner. Kenza Elakili was the next Jaguar to clinch a point for USA. After dropping the second set, she finished strong to earn a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory. The match then came down to courts one and three, and Lara van der Merwe completed a big comeback to pick up the win. After dropping the first set 2-6, she found herself fighting off a tiebreak in the second set to stay alive. She was able to win that tiebreak, 9-7, which gave her momentum in the third set to clinch the match 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.
 
South Alabama will now travel to Missippi State on Friday, Feb. 21 to open up a four-match road swing.
 
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