College Tennis News - No. 17 Women's Tennis Drops Heartbreaker at No. 8 Alabama, 4-3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 17 Auburn women’s tennis dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to eighth-ranked Alabama on Friday night at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.

The loss ends Auburn’s school record 14 match winning streak and is its first defeat since January 26.

Auburn (14-2, 4-1) jumped out to an early lead with its 15th-straight doubles victory. The highlight was Auburn’s No. 51 Pleun Burgmans and Plamena Kurteva knocking off Alabama’s sixth-ranked pair of Alexa Guarachi and Mary Anne Macfarlane, 8-6.

Jen Pfeifler and Paulina Schippers locked up the 1-0 advantage with an 8-6 victory on court three over Emily Zabor and Natalia Maynetto.

Alabama (13-1, 5-0) stormed back to take a 2-1 lead with straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 5. On court two, freshman Michala Kucharova fell to ITA No. 60 Guarachi 6-3, 6-1. Then at the fifth line, Pfeifler was defeated by Emily Zabor, 6-1, 6-3.

The Tigers charged back to knot the match at 2-all with a 6-3, 7-6 win by No. 51 Burgmans at the top spot over Alabama’s No. 25 Macfarlane, 6-3, 7-6.

The win is the fourth by the freshman over a ranked opponent. She is now 10-1 in matches as Auburn’s top player in the lineup.

The Crimson Tide put Auburn on the ropes with a 3-2 deficit following a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win at No. 4 by Antonia Foehse over Jackie Kasler. Emily Flickinger answered the bell for Auburn with a thrilling three-set win on court three, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, as she defeated ITA No. 73 Maya Jansen.

The win was the first over a ranked singles opponent by the sophomore Flickinger in her collegiate career.

After falling in the first set 6-1 to No. 115 Natalia Maynetto, Kurteva rebounded to split sets with a 6-4 win. In the third and ultimately match-deciding set, the senior took a 5-1 lead before falling 7-5 to clinch the match for the Crimson Tide.

The Tigers have now fallen to Alabama by 4-3 scores in two-straight years.

Auburn is in action next on Friday, March 22 at South Carolina.

RESULTS

Doubles
1. No. 54 Burgmans/Kurteva (AU) def. No. 6 Guarachi/Macfarlane (UA) 8-6
2. Foehse/Jansen (UA) vs. Kasler/Flickinger (AU) 7-7, unf.
3. Pfeifler/Schippers (AU) def. Zabor/Maynetto (UA) 8-6
Order of Finish: 1,3

Singles
1. No. 51 Pleun Burgmans (AU) def. No. 20 Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) 6-3, 7-6(2)
2. No. 60 Alexa Guarachi (UA) def. Michala Kucharova (AU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Emily Flickinger (AU) def. No. 73 Maya Jansen (UA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
4. Antonia Foehse (UA) def. Jackie Kasler (AU) 7-6(4), 6-3
5. Emily Zabor (UA) def. Jen Pfeifler (AU) 6-1, 6-3
6. No. 115 Natalia Maynetto (UA) def. Plamena Kurteva (AU) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Order of Finish: 2,5,1,4,3,6*