Women’s Tennis Snaps Streak at UAB, 4-3

Friday, April 8

Birmingham, AL

1:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Apr 08, 2016 | Women's Tennis

Sohn seals road win in third set tiebreaker.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis women's tennis team again had just five players for a non-conference match on the road, but that was all it took, as Memphis defeated UAB, 4-3, Friday afternoon.

"Today's outcome was a result of how the kids have approached every match this season," Head Coach Hayden Perez said. "They have competed extremely hard every time out regardless of their circumstances. Their hard work and effort paid off today and Ryan and I are extremely proud of them."

Memphis lost junior all-conference honoree Anki Wind just two matches in to the schedule and have had to slide the entire singles lineup up one spot. Then sophomore Tara McElroy missed the last two weeks with a foot injury, meaning Memphis has just five players for each match, not enough to compete in three doubles matches and six singles matches that make up the college tennis team competition. That, combined with a schedule that featured eight nationally-ranked teams after losing Wind to injury, were the components to a 15-match losing streak that Memphis retired on Friday.

Memphis started battling early. With no Tigers' entry at three doubles, UAB would need just one win to take the doubles point, and a 2-0 lead in the match (with no Memphis entry at six singles). But the team of Janina Berres and Gabrielle Paul grabbed a 6-4 win at two doubles to force the UAB team at one to need a win to clinch the point. UAB did grab the win at one, 6-3, taking the early 2-0 lead, but Gabrielle Paul started the Memphis comeback with a 6-3, 6-2 win at five singles for 2-1.

Kathryn Hughes then evened the match at 2-2 with a 7-5, 6-4 win at two. Marta Morga then gave Memphis its first lead of the afternoon with a 7-6, 6-3 battle at three singles, but the Blazers, playing on their senior day, fought back with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win at four to tie the match at 3-all.

That led to a bit of waiting as the match at number one singles saw Memphis sophomore Hanna Sohn come back from a 6-2 first set loss to win the second set 7-5. Sohn and UAB's Pardis Kianoush battled all the way to 5-5 and ended up in a third set tiebreak to determine the match winner. Sohn won the tiebreaker to give Memphis its second win of the season with the 4-3 road win.

Memphis will close out its regular season slate on Sunday, traveling to New Orleans to face Tulane in an American Athletic Conference match at 10 a.m.

Memphis 4, UAB 3
Doubles
No. 1 – Pardis Kianousch/Elaine Simon def. Hanna Sohn/Kathryn Hughes (Memphis), 6-3
No. 2 – Janina Berres/Gabrielle Paul (Memphis) def. Catherine Ragon/Reghan Lynch, 6-4
No. 3 – Amy Lowther/Sophie Dodds won by default
Singles
No. 1 – Hanna Sohn (Memphis) def. Pardis Kianousch, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6
No. 2 – Kathryn Hughes (Memphis) def. Elaien Simon, 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 – Marta Morga (Memphis) def. Catherine Ragon, 7-6, 6-3
No. 4 – Sophie Dodds def. Janina Berres (Memphis), 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
No. 5 – Gabrielle Paul (Memphis) def. Reghan Lynch, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 – UAB won by default