HOUSTON -- The eighth-seeded UTSA women's tennis team got singles wins from Jasmin Starr (Templestowe, Victoria, Australia), Mariah Plauth (Florianoplis, Brazil), Charleen Tiwari (Perth, Australia) and Laura Cabrera (Barcelona, Spain) to post a 4-2 win over No. 9 seed Southern Miss in the first round of the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship, hosted by Rice on Thursday afternoon.
UTSA (12-12) earned the win to advance to the C-USA Quarterfinals against top-seeded Old Dominion (17-3) on Friday at 10 a.m.
The Roadrunners rallied after dropping the doubles point to open the match. UTSA got the comeback win started with Starr's 6-4, 6-3 winner on the first court and a 6-4, 6-4 win from Plauth to take a 2-1 lead. Starr improved to a UTSA freshman record 12-10 in singles in the lead role in 2019, with Plauth moving to 12-9 and Cabrera 11-9. Tiwari won her seventh match.
After Southern Miss (12-5) took a single point on the fifth court to even it at 2-2, Tiwari earned a three-set win on the sixth court, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to give UTSA a 3-2 lead.
It came down to the third sets on courts two and three, featuring Cabrera and Kylee Kato (Kahului, Hawaii). Cabrera closed out the win with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback on the second court. Kato led in her match, 4-6, 7-5, 4-3 when Cabrera clinched.
FINAL! No. 8 UTSA rallies past No. 9 seed Southern Miss to claim a first-round win in the C-USA Championships in Houston! #BirdsUp 🤙
— UTSA Women's Tennis (@UTSAWT) April 18, 2019
🔗 https://t.co/lAKE1Au0GS pic.twitter.com/oN8f9BWcr1
The Roadrunners improved to 3-5 all-time in the C-USA Championships, 1-0 under first-year head coach Ki Kroll, and earned their first win since 2017.
Singles competition
1. Jasmin Starr (UTSAW) def. Arina Amaning (USM) 6-4, 6-3
2. Laura Cabrera (UTSAW) def. Rikeetha Pereira (USM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Tjasa Jerse (USM) vs. Kylee Kato (UTSAW) 4-6, 7-5, 3-4, unfinished
4. Mariah Plauth (UTSAW) def. Katia De La Garza (USM) 6-4, 6-4
5. Ebru Zeynep Yazgan (USM) def. Sophie Omoworare (UTSAW) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Charleen Tiwari (UTSAW) def. Monique Burton (USM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Kylee Kato/Jasmin Starr (UTSAW) def. Arina Amaning/Tjasa Jerse (USM) 6-4
2. Rikeetha Pereira/Ebru Zeynep Yazgan (USM) def. Sophie Omoworare/Charleen Tiwari (UTSAW) 7-5
3. Monique Burton/Katia De La Garza (USM) def. Mariah Plauth/Diya Menon (UTSAW) 6-1
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,1,6,5,2)
- UTSA -