Zehnder Clinches Win over Xavier on Senior Day

Friday, April 13

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Adams Tennis Complex

2 PM

Middle Tennessee

South Alabama

4/15/2018 3:40:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Blue Raiders take down South Alabama and Xavier this weekend

By: @MTAthletics

MT vs. South Alabama results
MT vs. Xavier results
Season Statistics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.– The best regular season in the Charlie Ramsay era has come to a close, as the Blue Raiders took wins over South Alabama and Xavier at the Adams Tennis Complex this weekend and turn their focus to the Conference USA Championship.

"We're getting a lot of experience in those three set matches," MT head coach Charlie Ramsay said after two matches this weekend that saw a combined 11 third sets in singles. "We dug so deep. This is the deepest we've had to dig all year, and the final score doesn't really indicate it."

Middle Tennessee (17-7) got the weekend started with wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles on Friday against South Alabama. Kim Kermet and Luisa Zirilli posted a score of 6-1 at the top doubles spot, and senior Maria Josefina Zehnder paired with Costanza Magazzini for a 6-4 win on court three to clinch the doubles point.

In singles on Friday, the Jaguars tied the match at one point apiece by winning at No. 1 in straight sets, but Zirilli put the Blue Raiders back on top with a win in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, 4-1, ret. Zehnder bounced back from being blanked in her second set at No. 2 to win in the third set, 6-3, giving MT its third point in the match. After South Alabama took a three-set win at No. 3, Lidia Burrows finished off a clutch performance at No. 4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), to clinch MT's 4-2 victory.

Xavier earned the first point in the match on Sunday by winning on courts one and two by a narrow margin. Zehnder and Magazzini were leading 6-5 but were unable to finish.

At one point in singles on Sunday, MT's chances looked grim. All six matches saw a third set, but only four of them finished. Zirilli tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-2 score in the third set on court six, followed by Magazzini at No. 1 with a third set score of 6-1 to give the Blue Raiders their first lead of the day. Kermet pulled away late in the third set at No. 3, giving MT its third point of the day, and Zehnder won at No. 2 to clinch the 4-1 victory on Senior Day.

"It was a tough match. We lost the doubles point and most of us were down in the first set, I was down in the second set as well. I saved five or six match points, then I got motivated after I won the second set to clinch in the last set," Zehnder said after her match.

MT now heads into the C-USA Championship hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia, starting on Thursday. The seeding will be released on Monday and will be based on the full ITA rankings.

"We've done all the work we need to do to get a good seed in the tournament, and I think we're very dangerous and a team that could make a good run," Ramsay added.