PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – For a third straight year the UT Arlington women's tennis team has punched its way to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals, defeating 6
th-seed Troy 4-2 in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.
The Mavericks took control of the doubles point with a 6-3 win from
Liz Chileno and
Ana Paula Jimenez on court two, but the Trojans responded with a 6-4 win over
Carla Pons and
Sarina Reinertsen on court three. With set one tied at 5-5 on court one, Troy was able to muscle out the final two points to pick up the deciding doubles point, defeating
Momoka Horiguchi and
Tara Gorinsek 7-5.
Paula Jimenez quickly evened the score in singles action, taking court six in decisive fashion 6-1, 6-2.
Carla Pons followed on court three with a straight set victory 6-1, 6-4 to give the Mavs the lead, but it wouldn't last long.
Tara Gorinsek lost for the first time this season, falling to SBC Newcomer of the Year Hagar Amin 4-6, 6-0, 2-6 on court four as the Trojans evened the matched score.
Freshman of the Year,
Sarina Reinertsen, would make up for the loss, taking court five in straight sets over Olivia Elliott 6-1, 6-3. Needing just one more win,
Momoka Horiguchi clinched the match with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 victory on court two to send the Mavericks to the semifinals.
The Mavericks will take on #2 Georgia State in the SBC Semifinals tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
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