PENSACOLA, Fla. –  Just one day after a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 4 Flagler, the Valdosta State women's tennis team had a quick turnaround as it faced No. 8 West Alabama in a makeup match from earlier in the season, falling 6-1. 
 
The Blazers dropped to 4-10 overall and finished 2-6 in Gulf South Conference play, while UWA improved to 11-5 overall and 6-0 in league play. 
 
UWA won the doubles point with three wins to take the early lead.  The Tigers used a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 from Greta Zawels over senior Valentina Jimenez for a 2-0 lead.  Blazer freshman responded from a 6-1 loss in the first set at No. 2 singles to No. 33-ranked Alexa Milliam, but came up just short of forcing a third set with a 7-5 loss in the second and a 3-0 UWA advantage. 
 
Blazer sophomore Natalie Rainke, who clinched the win on Wednesday against Flagler upsetting No. 2-ranked Dana Heimen yesterday in a three-set thriller, pulled VSU within 3-1 with a 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) win over No. 20 Shaira Rivera at the top spot Thursday.  Rainke is 26^th nationally in singles.  UWA's Valentina Multiba clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-1 win over senior Olivia Pezo at No. 3.   Senior Viktoriia Fedorova battled back from a 7-6 loss in the first set for a 6-3 win in the second and Emiri Takanishi won 11-9 in the super tiebreaker for a 5-1 score.  Loilta Hukasian won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 5 singles over senior Kayla Greco for the final match. 
 
The Blazers return home to host No. 34 Florida Southern on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex and the women's team closes the week with a home match against Tampa on Sunday at 1 p.m.  VSU then hits the road for a match at Embry-Riddle on Tuesday at 2 p.m., before closing the regular season on Apr. 18 at home versus Georgia College in a makeup match from earlier in the season.