MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a contest that would come down to the final match, Alabama A&M (4-8, 4-1 SWAC) fell by the narrowest of scores, 4-3, to Florida A&M (4-9, 3-1 SWAC) in an NCAA Division I women's tennis match on Friday, March 11.
 
In a meeting of two of the top teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) the clubs would be separated by a hair's breadth almost the entire way. The Bulldogs' would control the doubles portion as juniors Ximena D. Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) and Camila Ruiz Diaz (Asuncion, Paraguay) delivered a 6-1 win over Haleigh Porter and Adrienne Clayton at No. 2.
 
Freshman Deja Brown (Spring Valley, Calif.) and senior India Woods (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) would then lock up the doubles point with a commanding 6-2 decision over Arielle Nealy and Claudia Sumaia at the three spot. For as impressive as those victories were it netted them just a 1-0 lead.
 
Sophomore Neha Ghare (Pune, India) doubled that with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sumaia at No. 5 to open singles play only to see Susan Salinas battle for a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Woods at the sixth position. A 6-4, 6-3 decision by Porter over Brown at the No. 2 then knotted the match and essentially made it a best two-out-of-three affair.
 
The first of those three would fall in favor of FAMU as Aylen Hubeaut pulled out a 6-4, 6-3 win over junior Jasmine Boyd (Marion, Ind.) at the top spot before Alabama A&M deadlocked the score one more time as Ruiz Diaz beat Clayton in three sets, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 4.
 
That left it up to the Rattlers' Sierra Sandy and A&M's Ramirez at the third position and neither would give easily. Sandy slipped by to win the first frame 7-6 before Ramirez brought home a 6-2 decision to send it to a third and decisive set. In that one FAMU would barely earn the narrow 4-3 victory with a 6-4 mark to close the final match.
 
While the loss is the first setback for A&M in SWAC play, a straight sets loss by Prairie View helps keep them in the top three in the league and in the thick of the race for a regular season championship. Jackson State currently leads the league at 5-0, followed by the Bulldogs at 4-1 and Alabama State and FAMU at 3-1.
 
Alabama A&M looks to rebound tomorrow, Saturday, March 12, in a key match against a 4-2 PVAMU squad. That outing is set for 9 a.m. in Montgomery, Alabama as part of the SWAC Pod.
 
FLORIDA A&M 4, ALABAMA A&M 3
Doubles
No. 1. Aylen Hubeaut/Sierra Sandy (FAMU) vs. Jasmine Boyd/Neha Ghare (AAMU) 3-4, unfinished
No. 2. Camila Ruiz Diaz/Ximena D. Ramirez (AAMU) def. Haleigh Porter/Adrienne Clayton (FAMU) 6-1
No. 3. Deja Brown/India Woods (AAMU) def. Arielle Nealy/Claudia Sumaia (FAMU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3
 
Singles
No. 1. Aylen Hubeaut (FAMU) def. Jasmine Boyd (AAMU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2. Haleigh Porter (FAMU) def. Deja Brown (AAMU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3. Sierra Sandy (FAMU) def. Ximena D. Ramirez (AAMU) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
No. 4. Camila Ruiz Diaz (AAMU) def. Adrienne Clayton (FAMU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 5. Neha Ghare (AAMU) def. Claudia Sumaia (FAMU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6. Susan Salinas (FAMU) def. India Woods (AAMU) 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3