The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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North Florida
UAB Women's Tennis Earns 4-3 Win Over North Florida
2/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Evelien Strijker won the decisive point for the UAB women's tennis team Friday as the Blazers earned a 4-3 win over North Florida.
Strijker's match against North Florida's Aline Berkenbrock came down to a third set with UAB leading 3-1 in the team match. After dropping the first set, 5-7, and rebounding to win the second, 6-2, the sophomore No. 1 singles player pulled through to take the third set, 6-3, and secure the Blazers' second home victory of the week.
UAB, which defeated Jacksonville State in Birmingham on Monday, improved to 2-1 on the season and handed North Florida its first dual match loss. The Ospreys are now 3-1.
The Blazers entered the match short-handed with only five singles players because of injuries. Despite forfeiting the No. 6 singles position and losing the doubles point, UAB came through as a team by winning four of the remaining five singles matches.
In addition to Strijker's three-set victory, Giorgia Romeo (No. 2), Paula Alvarez (No. 3) and Brittany DeFelice (No. 4) each won their singles matches in straight sets. Alvarez was especially dominating in a 6-3, 6-0 win over North Florida's Nikita van Lierop.
"I was really proud of the way the girls fought back today after losing the doubles point," UAB head coach Krissy Hall said. "This is a very good win for us, especially since we were not playing with a full singles lineup. This should give us a lot of confidence going into our match at Auburn tomorrow."
Other than the forfeited position, Jenny Cape suffered the only singles loss for UAB, falling in three sets to Lauren Holton at the No. 5 spot. The team match, however, was already decided when her match ended.
Strijker's win was her second this year over Berkenbrock, having also defeated her in October at the UNF Fall Invitational.
UAB won't spend too much time celebrating Friday's win. The Blazers return to the court quickly with a 10 a.m. match on the road Saturday at Auburn. The Tigers enter the contest at No. 27 in the latest ITA rankings.
