Alabama blanks Missouri in opening round

BATON ROUGE, La. - The 14th-seeded Alabama women's tennis team got off to a quick start and carried momentum throughout the match to knock off 11th-seeded Missouri in round one of the 2016 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Wednesday at the LSU Tennis Complex.

The Crimson Tide (5-17) earned wins over the Tigers (16-12) on courts one and three in doubles to take a 1-0 lead overall. At the No. 3 spot, junior Danielle Spielmann and freshman Bennett Dunn won the first five games and went on to take the match, 6-1, over juniors Cassidy Spearman and Brittany Lashway. Alabama had big leads on the remaining two courts, however Missouri would battle back to close the gap. Tide senior Natalia Maynetto and junior Erin Routliffe put the match away on court one before Tiger senior Kelli Hine and sophomore Clare Raley could earn more than a break back to win 6-3 and clinch the point.

In singles, Alabama won four of the first six sets, while they two the Tide dropped were by scores of 7-6(4) and 7-5. That would not factor in in the end as Alabama claimed a trio of matches in straight sets to secure the team victory. On court five, junior Joanna Nena Savva dominated Raley, 6-1, 6-2, before No. 27 Routliffe posted a 6-2, 6-2, win on court one against junior Bea Machado Santos, ranked 53rd. Dunn would close things out on court six, winning 6-4, 6-3, over freshman Turner Yates.

Next up, Alabama will face sixth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT.