By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Ben Boynton)
On Friday night, the Alabama women’s tennis team had an opportunity to come up with a much-needed win on the road. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, it couldn’t pull away from the No. 14 Auburn Tigers.
Auburn defeated Alabama in a nearly four hour 4-3 match, giving the Crimson Tide its tenth straight loss and dropping its record to 4-13 on the season.
Alabama was able to earn the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead. On court one, senior Natalia Maynetto and junior Erin Routliffe won 6-3, while the court three match went Auburn’s way, in the shape of a 6-2 defeat of sophomores Bennett Dunn and Aryn Greene.
It all came down to court two. Freshman Andie Daniell and junior Joanna Nena Savva rallied from a 5-3 deficit to win, taking the tiebreaker 8-6 and giving Alabama the doubles point.
In singles, Auburn quickly responded by taking four of the six first sets. On court three, Maynetto fell 6-1, 6-0 to tie up the match. At the number one spot, Routliffe won 6-0, 7-6 (2) to push the Crimson Tide back in front. The Tigers quickly pulled even again with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Daniell on court two.
The final three matches would all go to a third set. Alabama struck first, with Savva pulling off a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win on court five to take the 3-2 lead. Once again, Auburn tied things up, this time after junior Danielle Spielmann lost 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in a narrow tiebreaker on court four.
Court six would end up being the deciding match, with Dunn falling 6-2, 0-6, 7-5 to give Auburn the win.
The Crimson Tide remains winless in the SEC through nine matches. Alabama returns home to play No. 6 Florida on April 8 at 5 p.m. CT, and follows that up with the final home match of the year, an April 10 matchup against No. 8 South Carolina.
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
