The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
UAB Loses Hard-Fought First-Round Match To ECU
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 16, 2009
HOUSTON, Texas -- In a match that went down to the wire Thursday, UAB dropped a 4-3 decision to East Carolina in the first round of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship.
The 11th-seeded Blazers found themselves tied 2-2 with sixth-seeded East Carolina late in the team competition. UAB needed to win two of the final three singles matches on the court, all of which were in a third set.
Evelien Strijker pulled through at the No. 1 spot to win 6-4 in the third, but the Blazers lost three-setters in the remaining two matches at No. 2 and No. 5 singles as East Carolina clinched the victory.
At the No. 2 position, Paula Alvarez dominated the first set before East Carolina's Varinia Soler came back for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory. At the No. 5 spot, ECU's Rocio Cabanillas overcame a first-set loss to defeat UAB's Jenny Cape 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Strijker had not seen match action since a March 20 contest at Arkansas State, having been forced to the sidelines for nearly a month with a stress fracture in her foot. After losing the first set Thursday, the sophomore No. 1 player bounced back for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
"The girls fought really hard and played really well today," UAB head coach Krissy Hall said. "If a few points here and there had gone the other way, we could be playing in the quarterfinals tomorrow. It's really a heart-breaking loss, but I couldn't have asked for much more from our players."
UAB jumped out of the gate quickly Thursday to win the doubles point on the strength of victories from the No. 1 team of Alvarez and Strijker and the No. 2 squad of Giorgia Romeo and Brittany DeFelice. Romeo then kept things rolling for the Blazers with a commanding 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles to put UAB on top 2-0 in the team match.
The No. 4 and No. 6 singles matches were the next to finish as East Carolina evened the team match at 2-2 and set the stage for an exciting finish. ECU's Brooke Walter defeated DeFelice in straight sets at the No. 4 spot, and the Pirates' Tamara Sachs earned a straight-set win over Ceylan Engin at No. 6.
With Thursday's loss, UAB wraps up its season at 6-9 overall. East Carolina improves to 15-6 and advances to meet No. 3 seed Marshall in the quarterfinals on Friday. The tournament is being hosted by Rice at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston.
Players Mentioned
