Gritty UAB Effort Falls Short Against North Texas, 4-2

Thursday, April 19

Norfolk, Va.

3 p.m.

UAB

North Texas

Gritty UAB Effort Falls Short Against North Texas, 4-2

4/19/2018 8:41:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB women's tennis team gave North Texas all it could handle but fell just short on Thursday as the Blazers were defeated by the Mean Green, 4-2, in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament.

UAB finishes the 2017-18 campaign with a 12-12 overall record, its most regular-season wins since winning 12 during the 2012-13 season.

"I'm really proud of our effort today," head coach Mark Tjia said. "We were very close to pulling the upset. We talked about loving the battle and playing with the same positivity they had when they first began playing tennis and that's what we did. We didn't get the result we wanted, but we learned something today and it will help us next year as we have the same team returning."

After dropping the first match in doubles play, the Blazers found themselves in a battle in the final two matches. With their backs against the wall, the tandem of Alex Shchipakina and Marlene Herrmann gave it their all before falling 7-5 on Court 1 to put North Texas up, 1-0.

The Mean Green jumped out of the gate in singles, winning the opening two points to extend their lead to 3-0 in the match. Shchipakina did all she good for the Blazers in the third match, giving 58^th-ranked Maria Kononova all she could handle in a 6-4, 7-5 defeat.

UAB then found some life when Dominika Hrabalova, who was subbed in to replace an injured Jana Hecking, toppled Haruka Sasaki 6-3, 6-1 to cut the deficit to 3-1. Herrmann then added her 15^th singles win of the season to pull the Blazers within one point of the tie, earning a 6-4, 6-2 decision in the No. 2 spot over Tamuna Kutubidze.

However, the comeback effort fell just short as North Texas' Nidhi Surapaneni took the match on Court 5 to preserve the 4-2 lead for the sixth-seeded Mean Green.

The team has a lot to look forward to next year as it returns its entire squad from this season.

For more information on UAB women's tennis, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WTN) and Instagram (UAB_WTN).

For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UAB_Athletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uab_athletics).