Alabama
TBD
Guarachi and McLane Advance at National Indoor Championships
11/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Nov. 4, 2010
FLUSHING, N.Y. - The women's tennis doubles team of junior Courtney McLane and sophomore Alexa Guarachi advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2010 USTA/ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championships with a win on Thursday. Guarachi and McLane, the No. 2 doubles team in the nation and No. 4 seed at the tournament, beat the Northwestern team of sophomore Linda Abu Mushrefova and freshman Nida Hamilton 8-6 in the round of 16.
"I thought we had a really good first day," Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Any win here is a great win. Courtney and Alexa played from behind the entire match. There were a couple really pivotal situations and credit goes to them for working through those tough spots. Today was a great example of finding a way to figure out how to win. They did a great job of walking away with the win by sticking to the things they knew would work."
In singles action, freshman Mary Anne Macfarlane took on the No. 12 player in the country, and tournament's No. 4 seed, senior Denise Muresan of Michigan. The Wolverine netter earned a late break to take the first set 7-5, but Macfarlane bounced back to take the second 6-2. In the third, Macfarlane led early on before Muresan earned a pair of breaks for the 6-4 win to continue on in the main draw.
"Mary Anne had lots of chances in the first set but could not quite grab them," Mainz added. "Her opponent did a good job of capitalizing on the big points. Mary Anne did a great job of bouncing back in the second and was ahead the entire time. She continued to play well early in the third and had chances again in the middle of the set but did not get them. She played well enough to win today, and both she and I are pleased with the match. She did a good job of keeping pressure on her opponent, and it was just a couple of points that made the difference. Down the road she will win this match, no question."
Action continues at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday at 8 a.m. CT with the quarterfinal round of doubles. Singles consolation is slated to follow.
RESULTS
Doubles
McLane/Guarachi (UA) def. Mushrefova/Hamilton (NW) 8-6
Singles
Denise Muresan (UM) def. Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
