TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Women's Tennis team fell in the GSC Semifinals to No. 2 seed West Florida on Friday.
West Alabama (19-5, 5-2 GSC) and West Florida (22-4, 7-1 GSC) are two of the nation's best and the match between the GSC juggernauts came down to Line Five singles.
The Tigers took an early lead after taking the doubles point. Valentina Mutilba/Jenaila Prulla dominated on Line Two doubles, capturing a 6-1 victory. The second ranked duo in the country in Shaira Rivera and Alexa Milliam found themselves in a large deficit, before battling back to defeat UWF's Carlota Verdu/Sandra Recuenco, 7-5.
West Alabama won the first singles match of the day. Alexa Milliam picked up a victory on Line Two, (6-2, 6-3) over Sandra Recuenco. West Florida earned their first point of the match with a win on Line Four.
Moments later, the Argonauts took control of the match with wins on Lines Three and Six. Now trailing 3-2, Rivera bounced back from dropping the first set against Carlotta Verdu as she dominated the latter half of the contest. The graduate secured a (6-7, 6-0, 6-0) win to tie the match at three.
All eyes were on Line Five singles which involved UWA's Jenaila Prulla and UWF's Alberte Joergensen. The two trading games through the first two sets, setting up a high stakes third set. In a nailbiter, Joergensen edged out a (6-4, 1-6, 7-6) victory to clinch the matchup for West Florida.
Though they fell in the GSC Semifinals, West Alabama has more than likely played their way into receiving an At-Large Bid into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will take place on the first week of May.
