Women’s tennis team struggles in Tuscaloosa invitational

The Troy women’s tennis team played at the Roberta Allison Fall Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Oct. 30-31.

Four Trojan women competed in the tournament.

Only one singles team and one doubles team made it past the first round.

The doubles team of sophomores Sanae Ohta and Efriliya Herlina lost their first-round match 2-8 to sophomores Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak from Mississippi State.

The doubles team of junior Alicia Rodriguez and sophomore Jiayuan Xue won a close firstround match against freshman Sydney Patton and senior Katie Polk from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 8-7.

Their success was short-lived, however, as Rodriguez and Xue went on to lose in the next round 2-6 to sophomore Naz Karagoz and freshman Elena Muller from Tulane.

In Rodriguez’s first-round singles match, she faced another tough player from Tulane, senior Meredith Maltby, and lost 3-6.

Herlina played Georgia Tech’s sophomore Alexis Prokopuik and lost 6-0, 6-4.

Xue played freshman Marina Cozac from DePaul University, and lost the match in two games, 7-5, 6-1, following a close first game.

Ohta is the one singles player that got through the first round. Not only did she win the first round, but she went on to win the singles flight 6 championship.

Her first match was a routine win, 6-1, 6-4. Her second round was tough, dropping the first set 0-6, but she pulled it together and won the next two 6-0, 6-4.

Ohta then moved on the finals, defeating Vozniak 6-2, 6-4 to win the championship.

The women’s team will return to action next weekend Nov. 5-8, when both the men’s and women’s teams travel to Orlando, Florida, to play in their last tournament this year, the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational.