University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
West Alabama
Women's Tennis Cruises Past West Alabama
2/2/2019 11:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - With a week of rest under their belts, the Golden Eagles (4-0, 0-0 C-USA) came out hot en route to a 4-3 win over West Alabama. Southern Miss was backed by a dominant showing from Arina Amaning and Katia de la Garza in singles.
The Golden Eagles jumped ahead early in doubles as de la Garza and Monique Burton cruised to a 6-1 win over Liliana Araucz and Daryna Hukasian on court three. Following their win, Rikeetha Pereira and Ebru Zeynep Yazgan secured the doubles point for the Golden Eagles. The No. 2 duo cruised to a win over Sarah Manseri and Haina Franco. At No. 1 singles, Amaning and Tjasa Jerse lost a match for the ages. The two fell behind early, but managed to battle back en route to tying the game at five. From there, Georgina Salom and Andrea Tomassone pulled out a 7-5 win.
With a 1-0 lead heading into singles play, the Golden Eagles continued their success. Amaning's first three matches this season went unfinished, but the sophomore finally grabbed her first win of the season against Hukasian. The France native cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win on court one. De la Garza, the C-USA Female Player of the Week, continued her hot stretch as she defeated Salom on court four via a 6-0, 6-2 score.
The Golden Eagles held a 3-0 lead and needed just one more win to secure the match, but the Tigers were able to snag a win on court two to keep themselves alive. However, Jerse was able to hold off Franco on court three to guarantee a Southern Miss win. The senior cruised to a 6-2 win in the first set, but dropped the second set, 6-4. She then managed to pull out a 6-3 win in the third set, which slots her with 59 career wins. On court six, Anastasija Cobanovic made her season debut for Southern Miss. After dropping the first set, the sophomore stormed back to a second-set win to force a deciding set. Cobanovic ended up dropping the final set in a 7-6 (9-7) tiebreaker.
In the final match of the day, Yazgan fell to Tomassone in three sets. The freshman won the first set 7-6, but dropped the final two.
The Golden Eagles have a 12-day break before hosting Grambling State on Feb. 14.
Singles
Arina Amaning (USM) def. Hukasian 6-1, 6-1
Manseri def. Rikeetha Pereira (USM) 6-1, 6-2
Tjasa Jerse (USM) def. Franco 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Katia de la Garza (USM) def. Salom 6-0, 6-2
Tomassone def. Ebru Zeynep Yazgan (USM) 6-7(3-7), 6-3, 6-4
Araucz def. Anastasija Cobanovic (USM) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(9-7)
Doubles
Salom/Tomassone def. Amaning/Jerse (USM) 7-5
Pereira/Yazgan (USM) def. Franco/Manseri 6-4
De la Garza/Burton (USM) def. Araucz/Hukasian 6-1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,4,2,3,6,5
Players Mentioned
