Women's Tennis Nets Four Doubles Wins at ITA Regionals
10/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 24, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. - Meritt Emery and Alice Tunaru picked up a set of wins Friday to advance to the semifinal round of the ITA South Regional Tennis Championship held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. A total of three duos represented Alabama on the first day of play that limited teams to just doubles matches due to rain.
"We had our ups and downs today," said head coach Jenny Mainz. "A definite bright spot for us was Meritt and Alice. I thought they played well. We had a few good things happen for us, but tomorrow we are hoping to regroup for singles and come out strong."
Tiffany Welcher and Paulina Bigos were up first for the Crimson Tide where the two defeated Gabriela Rangel and Soledad Podlipnik of Ole Miss 8-5. The duo picked up another win in the "A" draw round of 16 over South Florida's Jessica Zok and Iciri Rai by another score of 8-5. Welcher and Bigos were tripped up in the quarterfinals by Georgia Tech's Noelle Hickey and Christy Striplin 8-4. Also competing in the "A" draw of doubles was the team of Courtney McLane and Taylor Lindsey. The freshmen tandem dropped a close 8-5 match to Tatiana Soldatova and Elvira Yusupova of Jacksonville.
"Courtney and Taylor lost to a solid Jacksonville team today," added Mainz. "Paulina and Tiffany had their chances and played aggressively, but when they had opportunities they didn't capitalize."
In the doubles "B" draw, Emery and Tunaru cruised past Samford's Stephanie Parkinson and Andrie Meiring before downing Leonie Guijt and Gabriela Viega of Troy 8-4. The Tide duo will play Jacksonville's Fernanda Carrero and Juliana Umeki in the semifinals on Sunday.
Match play resumes Saturday with the opening two rounds of singles.
RESULTS
Welcher/Bigos (UA) def. Rangel/Podlipnik (Ole Miss) 8-5
Soldatova/Yusupova (JU) def. McLane/Lindsey (UA) 8-5
Welcher/Bigos (UA) def. Zok/Rai (USF) 8-5
Hickey/Striplin (GT) def. Welcher/Bigos (UA) 8-4
Emery/Tunaru (UA) def. Parkinson/Meiring (SAM) 8-3
Emery/Tunaru (UA) def. Guijt/Viega (Troy) 8-4
Players Mentioned
