BOX SCORES
MOBILE Ala. - The University of South Alabama women's tennis team used a dominate performance to upset No. 31 Alabama, 6-1, Wednesday at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts. The win for the Jags is the second in as many days against an SEC opponent.
"This is the best win for our team in a long time," said South Alabama women's tennis head coach Jaco Keyser. "It's great for the girls to get a win like this and it validates the improvement they have made over the past couple of weeks. We better enjoy the win now, because we will have two tough teams coming up in Washington and Washington State."
The Lady Jags (12-7, 4-0 SBC) came out and for the fourth match in a row took the early momentum with the doubles point. Alabama's duo of Robin Stephens and Ashley Bentley, ranked 20th in the nation, defeated Adrianna Solarova and Jelena Krivacevic, 8-4 at No. 1. USA, however, went on to take the final two positions and the point. Dijana Stanic and Michaela Babicova made easy work of Andrea Bernes and Natalie McElveen at No. 3 (8-1), while Sylvanie Spanenberg and Maria Zivcicova sealed the doubles portion of the match with an 8-4 victory at No. 2 over Melissa Day and Mari Muller.
In singles, the Jags continued their dominance taking five of the six matches. Alabama's (9-10) Bentley, ranked No. 79 by the ITA, evened the match at 1-1 with at straight set victory at the No. 2 position over Jelena Krivacevic (6-1, 6-1), but USA went on to claim the final five matches. At the No. 3 spot, Zivcicova gave South Alabama the lead for good when she took down Mari Muller 6-4, 6-1. Solarova (No. 91) put the Jags just one point away from victory when she rallied to defeat Stephenson, the 14th-ranked singles player in the nation. Solarova, playing at No. 1, dropped the first set 6-3, but battled back to take the final two 6-4 and 6-1. Spanenberg clinched the match for USA with a three-set victory of her own over Day (2-6, 6-3, 6-4) at No. 6.
With South Alabama already having the match in hand, Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz walked over to the officials on the final two courts; both in the third set, and forfeited both matches.
The South Alabama women will close out the regular season at Washington and at Washington State on April 14 and 16, respectively, before returning home to host the 2006 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament April 21-23.
Tennis Match Results
University of Alabama vs University of South Alabama
Apr 12, 2006 at Mobile, Ala.
#58 University of South Alabama 6, #31 University of Alabama 1
Singles competition
1. #91 Adrianna Solarova (USAW) def. #14 Robin Stephenson (UA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
2. #79 Ashley Bentley (UA) def. Jelena Krivacevic (USAW) 6-1, 6-1
3. Maria Zivcicova (USAW) def. Mari Muller (UA) 6-4, 6-1
4. Michaela Babicova (USAW) def. Natalie McElveen (UA) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 98-0
5. Dijana Stanic (USAW) def. Shelley Godwin (UA) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 98-0
6. Sylvanie Spanenberg (USAW) def. Melissa Day (UA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #20 Robin Stephenson/Ashley Bentley (UA) def. Jelena Krivacevic/Adrianna Solarova (USAW) 8-4
2. Sylvanie Spanenberg/Maria Zivcicova (USAW) def. Melissa Day/Mari Muller (UA) 8-4
3. Dijana Stanic/Michaela Babicova (USAW) def. Andrea Brenes/Natalie McElveen (UA) 8-1
Match Notes:
University of Alabama 9-10; National ranking #31
University of South Alabama 13-7; National ranking #58
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,3,1,4,5)
