PENSACOLA, Fla. - The No. 7 University of West Alabama women's tennis team defeated Valdosta State University in a Gulf South Conference match by a 4-3 score on Friday.
Moving to 9-7 overall, UWA remains unbeaten in GSC play, going to 5-0 and extending its winning streak in conference play to 38. VSU falls to 3-7 and 2-1.
"This was a great battle and we should learn a lot from today," said head coach
Jeff Beaman. "There are times it just comes down to competing and our women fought and supported each other to pull out the win and keep the GSC streak alive."
Things did not go well for the Tigers at the start, as the Lady Blazers took doubles play.
Lolita Hukasian and
Emiri Takanishi (7-4) evened things up at the No. 3 flight with a 6-4 win, but No. 37
Khim Iglupas and
Heden Ly (9-2) saw their eight-match win streak come to an end at the No. 2 position. VSU picked up the 7-6 (4) in a tiebreak to get out on the board first.
West Alabama evened the match up at a point apiece with
Shaira Rivera's (9-1) straight-set victory at the No. 2 position, 6-2, 6-1.
After the Lady Blazers reclaimed the lead by winning the No. 3 position, Iglupas (11-1) made it a 2-2 affair with 6-4, 6-3 victory at the top flight.
The back-and-forth battle continued as VSU picked up a three-set win at the No. 5 spot to take the 3-2 lead, but Hukasian's 6-2, 7-6 (3) result at the No. 6 for her third win of the year as pulled UWA back even.
Down to the final point, it was between Takanishi and Kayla Greco at the No. 4 spot. After dropping the first set, 6-3, Takanishi (8-6) came back and dropped her opponent in the second, 6-4, to force the deciding set.
After a 6-6 tie in the third frame, nothing was decided, so they went to a seven-point tiebreak. UWA used a 7-4 score to win the final singles point and clinch the match.
West Alabama, who have played 15 of its first 16 games away from Livingston, will wrap up the road swing with a trip to No. 4 North Georgia, which was a rescheduled match from earlier in the season. The two teams will play a neutral-site match in Rome, Georgia on Tuesday afternoon.
