Women's tennis bounces back with win over Lady Jags

MOBILE, Ala. - Middle Tennessee won for the first time in two weeks to conclude a long road trip on the upswing, defeating South Alabama 5-2 Sunday afternoon in women's tennis action in Mobile, Ala.

"It has been a long trip and we are glad to finish it with a win," head coach Alison Ojeda. "We had four close and hard fought matches on this road trip and won the doubles point in three of the four matches. There are quite a few great things we have learned on this trip. All of which will be applied to our next two weeks of practices."

The doubles point fell to the Blue Raiders again Sunday. With the Lady Jags playing shorthanded and having to forfeit contests, Middle Tennessee (6-5) clinched the point by winning at No. 2 doubles. Yuiri Nomoto and Carla Nava handed Maria Boura and Jess Courtnell an 8-5 defeat. The No. 3 match was forfeited, giving the Blue Raiders the point.

After picking up the doubles point, Middle Tennessee needed to win just one of the singles matches to clinch the overall victory; however, the Blue Raiders prevailed in two of the four contested meetings and garnered two other points when South Alabama (1-8) had to forfeit at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions.

Anna Djananova sealed the win with her 6-4, 6-2 triumph at the No. 4 spot against Courtnell. Natalie Araya then tacked on another victory for good measure with a hard-fought, back-and-forth three-set 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 triumph against Bourna at the No. 2 position.

Middle Tennessee will return to action next weekend when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., for a pair of matches. The Blue Raiders will face UAB Friday before battling UTEP in a neutral site match Saturday.

Middle Tennessee 5, South Alabama 2

Singles
No. 1 Katie Welch (USA) def. Carla Nava (MT) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Natalie Araya (MT) def. Marie Boura (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 10-7
No. 3 Chane Hines (USA) def. Yuiri Nomoto (MT) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Anna Djananova (MT) def. Jess Courtnell (USA) 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 Marietta Bigus (MT) def. No player (USA), by forfeit
No. 6 Taylor Coffey (MT) def. No player (USA), by forfeit

Doubles
No. 1 Welch/Hines (USA) def. Bigus/Araya (MT) 8-2
No. 2 Nomoto/Nava (MT) def. Boura/Courtnell (USA) 8-5
No. 3 Taylor/Djananova (MT) def. No player/No player (USA), by forfeit

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