The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FRESHMAN Sydney Clarke and her University of Arlington at Birmingham Blazers women’s tennis team picked up their second consecutive victory over the weekend.

On Sunday, the Blazers won 7-0 over Murray State in a match that was originally scheduled to be played at the George Ward Park but had to be relocated to the UAB Campus Courts because of wet court conditions.

“Overall, I felt me and my team-mates did a great job,” Clarke said. “I feel as if each week we are getting better. We are not giving up. We are fighting and when we are faced with challenges, we are overcoming them. We are just not sitting down and giving up.

“This was a very tough team, but I feel as though as a team, we just stuck to our guns and we didn’t give up. When we were up, we kept fighting and when we were down, we found ways to come back and not just get frustrated and let the other team get ahead.”

The former CR Walker Secondary High standout, who graduated last year from Windsor High School and the Albany Tennis Academy, won her singles match in convincing fashion, 6-0, 6-2, over Gabrielle Geolier. However, in doubles, the immediate past top female junior national team player and her team-mate Alexandra da Silva lost 6-4 to Murray State’s duo of Samantha Muller and Anja Loncarevic. “I’m very satisfied with my contributions, especially in singles,” Clarke said. “I feel as though each week I am getting better as I put my best foot forward for the team and I just look forward to playing every match moving forward.”

Reflecting on her win in singles, Clarke said she was very focused, and she got off to a very quick start, which made a big difference in the outcome.

“I was able to finish the first set very quickly and in the second set, I started to make a little more mistakes than I did in the first, but I buckled down, especially in the important moments and I didn’t let it get to me,” she stressed. “I just looked forward to winning the next point.”

As for her doubles, Clarke admitted that it could have been better.

“I made a few mistakes and got rattled a bit by the win in the doubles,” she pointed out. “But overall, it’s getting better, and I and my partner are improving every week. I feel once we get to play more, we will be fine. We just need to stay focused and positive.”

UAB will take a 4-5 win-loss record into their next match against North Alabama (2-6) on Wednesday at the UNA Varsity Tennis Complex.

“For the rest of the season, I just look forward to me and my team-mates progressing and each week doing better than the last and not really focusing on the results, but doing the things we have been practicing,” she said.

“We just hope to continue to stay on a roll and when it comes to our conference playoffs, we will be ready. I feel as though playing a lot of the Power 5 schools like the University of Alabama, Mississippi State gave us a lot of opportunities to prepare for these matches. So, I’m really looking forward to the conference playoffs.”

Based on their schedule, the Blazers will have at least 10 more matches through April 10 before they can participate in the Conference USA Championships, scheduled for April 22-25.

Hopefully, the winning streak will continue.