The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Middle Tennessee
Blazers Suffer 5-2 Season-Opening Loss To MTSU
1/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 28, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's tennis team won two of the top three singles positions Saturday and nearly claimed the other, but the Blazers dropped a 5-2 decision to Middle Tennessee in their spring opener at the Samford Tennis Complex.
UAB (0-1) will be back in action Sunday with its second match of the weekend, taking on Louisiana-Lafayette at Samford at 8:30 a.m.
In Saturday's match, the Blue Raiders (1-1) did most of their damage by sweeping the doubles point and then putting on a strong showing at the bottom of the singles lineup.
A pair of first-year Blazers -- freshman Rachel Daniell and junior Isabel Fernandez -- accounted for UAB's two points.
Daniell downed MTSU's Flavia Nagayama, 7-6, 6-3, at No. 3 singles, while Fernandez, a transfer from VCU, out-lasted Yuiri Nomoto at the No. 2 spot. Fernandez and Nomoto split two tiebreak sets before the UAB junior snuck out an 11-9 victory in a match tiebreaker for the third set.
Senior Paula Alvarez nearly made it a clean sweep of the top three positions for UAB in another tight match, but Middle Tennessee's Carla Nava overcame a first-set loss for a 6-7, 6-4, 10-7 victory at No. 1 singles.
By that time, the Blue Raiders' other three singles victories had already been decided. MTSU players won in straight sets from the No. 4 through No. 6 positions with Lexi Brand defeating Menanteau Moolman (6-3, 6-1), Nayara Moraes downing Richole Berger (6-2, 6-4) and Marietta Bigus topping Rachel Cohen (6-4, 6-0).
Middle Tennessee also handled the three doubles matches to open the day. An 8-5 loss at No. 2 doubles by Daniell and Moolman against Bigus and Brand was the Blazers' closest result.
