University of Alabama Team Page

URBANA, Ill. - Alexa Guarachi and Mary Anne Macfarlane knocked off No. 1 seed Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia of Georgia in straight sets, while Guarachi won her singles match versus Rice's Natalie Beazant on Saturday, advancing the Crimson Tide to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship Semifinals in singles and doubles. These will be the first semifinal appearances in program history.

The day started off with singles where 36th-ranked Guarachi got off to a solid start and earned a big break midway through the set to take the first, 6-4. Rice's Beazant, ranked 41st, came back big in the second, winning 6-1, however Guarachi would return the favor, using a 3-0 lead to eventually win the final set, 6-1, to advance to Sunday's semifinal.

Guarachi and Macfarlane's doubles match was extremely close throughout, and a well-played tiebreaker, which they would win, 7-4, was instrumental in giving the Tide's seventh-ranked duo the momentum in the match. In the second, Georgia's Fuller and Garcia broke to lead, 5-3, but four straight points for Alabama gave Guarachi and Macfarlane the victory in two sets.

Guarachi will take on 11th-ranked Mary Weatherholt of Nebraska in Sunday's semifinal match, which is slated to begin not before 1 p.m. CT. In doubles, Guarachi and Macfarlane are scheduled to face UCLA's Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton following singles.

For more information on the NCAA Championships, including live video and live scoring, click here.

RESULTS
Doubles
No. 7 Guarachi/Macfarlane (UA) def. No. 1 Fuller/Garcia (UGA) 7-6(4), 7-5

Singles
No. 36 Alexa Guarachi (UA) def. No. 41 Natalie Beazant (RICE) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1