Tigers Hang Tough with Alabama, Minnesota

Friday, February 18

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

5:00 PM

University of Memphis

Alabama

Memphis vs. Univ. South Florida Tennis Camila Romero Hayden Perez

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Feb 19, 2022 | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tiger women's tennis team traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for matches against Alabama Friday and Minnesota Saturday.

The Tigers dropped both contests in tightly-contested fashion, and Alabama and Minnesota moved to a combined 19-1 on the season.

Memphis freshman Emily Meyer improved to 7-0 in singles play on the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Alabama's Anna Parkhomenko. Four of the other singles matches against the Crimson Tide went three sets.

"This weekend's matches were some tough losses," Memphis head coach Hayden Perez said. "Alabama proved too tough in the doubles, winning the deciding doubles match 7-5. They outplayed us in the end. The way the girls responded and fought hard in singles was impressive. We came out and won four first sets, and it was high-level tennis on every court.

"The 4-1 overall match score was deceiving. The two matches that clinched for Alabama were both 6-4 in the third set, and the two remaining matches that weren't completed were both deep in the third sets with one just starting a tiebreaker at 6-6 and the other was at 4-5. The match couldn't have been much closer, but credit to Alabama for hanging tough in the end."

The Tigers dropped two three-set singles points against the Golden Gophers, and two other three-setters were unfinished at the time the match wrapped up. Memphis' three doubles matches against Minnesota were 7-5, 6-5 and 7-6 (7-4).

"The Minnesota match was another battle," Perez said. "Our kids had a short turnaround from the long match on Friday night to the noon start on Saturday. Physically the kids bounced back well, and the test was going to be how they responded after the emotional letdown of losing such a great match the night before.

"The doubles point again came down to the wire. At one point it was briefly 5-5 on all three courts. Minnesota won 7-5 at number one and 7-6 at number three. We were about to have our fourth match point to win at number two, leading 6-5 40-40 when the match was suspended.

"The girls responded again and fought very hard. Once again, the final score was deceiving, and at the time the match was suspended we were leading a second-set tiebreaker to split sets on one court, at 4-4 in the third set on another court and just starting the third set on another. Two of our three singles losses were three-setters, and each match was highly contested.

"I am very proud of this group and the fight they showed throughout the weekend. We grew as a team from these losses, and I hope we learned some valuable lessons that will help us as we move on to another tough weekend on the road."

Memphis (7-4) has two American Athletic Conference matches next week, traveling to Wichita State Friday and Tulsa Sunday.

Alabama 4, Memphis 1
Singles
1. #101 Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) def. Aran Teixido Garcia (MEM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Ola Pitak (UA) def. Camila Romero (MEM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Petra Sedlackova (UA) def. Alisha Reayer (MEM) 6-0, 6-3
4. Emily Meyer (MEM) def. Anna Parkhomenko (UA) 6-4, 6-2
5. Anne Marie Hiser (UA) vs. Monique Woog (MEM) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
6. Kasia Pitak (UA) vs. Camila Soares (MEM) 6-2, 1-6, 6-6 (2-1), unfinished

Doubles
1. #17 Anne Marie Hiser/Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) def. Alisha Reayer/Meredith Jones (MEM) 6-0
2. Aran Teixido Garcia/Emily Meyer (MEM) def. Anna Parkhomenko/Petra Sedlackova (UA) 6-2
3. Kasia Pitak/Ola Pitak (UA) def. Camila Romero/Camila Soares (MEM) 7-5

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,1,2)

Minnesota 4, Memphis 0
Singles
1. Aran Teixido Garcia (MEM) vs. Emilee Duong (MINN) 7-5, 3-6, 0-1, unfinished
2. Camila Romero (MEM) vs. Ekin Ercetin (MINN) 2-6, 6-2, 4-4, unfinished
3. Maria Rizzolo (MINN) def. Emily Meyer (MEM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Monique Woog (MEM) vs. Vasia Karvouni (MINN) 5-7, 6-6, unfinished
5. Anfisa Danilchenko (MINN) def. Meredith Jones (MEM) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
6. Dalila Said (MINN) def. Camila Soares (MEM) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
1. Emilee Duong/Ekin Ercetin (MINN) def. Aran Teixido Garcia/Emily Meyer (MEM) 7-5
2. Dalila Said/Anfisa Danilchenko (MINN) def. Camila Romero/Meredith Jones (MEM) 6-5
3. Maria Rizzolo/Lucy Lu (MINN) def. Camila Soares/Monique Woog (MEM) 7-6 (7-4)

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,3,5)

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Women's Tennis, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.