No. 10 Virginia's Rally Falls Short at No. 16 Alabama
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Feb. 15, 2014
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 10 Virginia erased a 3-0 deficit, but lost 4-3 to No. 16 Alabama in women’s tennis action Saturday (Feb. 15) at Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
The Cavaliers (5-2) received singles wins from No. 4 Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), No. 107 Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and No. 39 Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.).
Alabama (5-2) claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. Mary Anne Daines and Danielle Spielmann beat Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) 8-2 at No. 2 and No. 20 Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe clinched the point with an 8-5 win over No. 3 Elbaba and Pierson at No. 1.
The Crimson Tide increased their lead to 3-0 as Luicelena Perez beat freshman Marie Faure (Toulouse, France) 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6 and Spielmann beat No. 53 Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2.
Elbaba started Virginia’s comeback with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Daines at No. 1 singles. Nauta made it 3-2 with a 7-5, 7-6 win over No. 62 Routliffe at No. 4 and Pierson tied it with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 59 Jansen at No. 3.
Just as Pierson was making the team score 3-3, Epstein continued her own incredible fight back on court No. 5. Epstein trailed 2-0 in the third set, but fought all the way back to take a 5-3 lead and earned a match point vs. Zabor’s serve. However, Zabor showed equal toughness and ultimately clinched the win for the Crimson Tide with a 7-2 score in a third set tiebreaker en route to a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 win.
Virginia hosts top-ranked Duke on Friday, Feb. 21. First serve is set for 3:30 p.m. at Boar’s Head Sports Club.