SAN ANTONIO — The No. 28 St. Mary's women's tennis team defended their new national ranking for the first time Thursday against Heartland Conference rival No. 31 St. Edward's University. In a closely contested match, the Rattlers prevailed, winning 5-4 over the Hilltoppers.
The Lady Rattlers were able to win only one of the three doubles matches, falling into an early 1-2 hole.
The lone doubles victory came at the No. 1 position, where Marianna Rong and
Ariana Saldana brought in a 8-2 victory for the St. Mary's over St. Edward's Sasha Khadzhyan and Florence Boinon.
In singles, the St. Mary's women wasted no time reclaiming the lead, winning in straight sets at four of the six singles spots to clinch the victory.
No. 28 Marian Rong stayed undefeated, winning her match handedly over St. Edward's Sasha Khadzhyan 6-0, 6-1 at the top singles position.
Other victories for St. Mary's came at the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6 positions.
In a tough loss, senior captain
Valentine Lambrechts captured a second-set victory after losing the first, but was unable to win in a deciding tiebreaker that was played in lieu of a third set because the match was already clinched by the Rattlers.
“Another great win for this team,” said St. Mary's head coach
Lisa Dausin. “These girls have earned this new ranking and I'm proud to see them defend it.”
St. Mary's women's tennis moves to 13-4 on the season. They hit the road for their next matches, traveling to Lawton, Okla. to participate in the Cameron University Quad, which starts Fri., April 5.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
