AUSTIN, Texas — No. 19-ranked St. Mary's Women's Tennis clinched its second straight Heartland Conference championship on Saturday, taking the regular-season crown with a 6-3 victory over rival St. Edward's.
St. Mary's took two of the three doubles matches, as
Jamie Lee Denton and
Felicity Delgado teamed for the victory while the tandem of
Ariana Saldana and
Joanie Bryant also proved victorious. St. Edward's duo of Brooke Hughes and Sasha Khadzhyan, ranked No. 14 in the nation, topped
Mariana Rong and
Cristina Lopez.
In singles action, Rong defeated Hughes in the No. 1 spot 6-3, 1-1 (retirement), while the Rattlers also picked up wins in the No. 3, 4 and 6 slots.
Denton picked up the win in the No. 3 position, topping Rafaela Haegele 6-3, 6-2.
Felicity Delgado also won, cruising by Francesca Chaher 6-3, 6-1, while
Joanie Bryant won her match by the same score against Breanne Hesseltine.
The Rattlers, who wrap up the regular season against McMurry next Friday in Mason, Texas, will soon to their attention to the Heartland Conference Tournament. Conference foe Arkansas-Fort Smith can match St. Mary's 5-1 league mark if the Rattlers drop their regular-season finale to McMurry.
St. Mary's will host the championship tournament from April 25-26 at the Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex. There, the Rattlers will be vying for their second straight Heartland tournament championship under third-year coach
Lisa Dausin, having taken the tourney last season.
The tournament champion will earn the automatic qualifier for the regional tournament.
