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Hannah Petersen
Chad Peters
Hannah Petersen (pictured) teamed with Cristina Lopez for a doubles win Thursday.

Women's Tennis RattlerAthletics.com

Women's Tennis falls to #1 BYU-Hawaii in NCAA quarterfinals

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

DENVER — St. Mary's Hannah Petersen stood among four senior teammates Thursday morning, huddled up one final time following their season-ending defeat at the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.

The finality of such moments is often hardest on the seniors who have just suited up for the final time as collegiate student-athletes. But on this day it was Petersen, just a freshman, who was most visibly stricken by the Rattlers' season coming to an end in a 5-2 loss to No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii. 

Yet Petersen's emotion provided the backdrop to what was perhaps the greatest tribute possible to seniors Joanie Bryant, Jamie Lee Denton, Cristina Lopez and Kerry Wiegand.

"It's just the support they have given us," explained Petersen, fighting tears, of a class that has helped turn the Rattlers into a national powerhouse. "It's such an inspiration. They're the epitome of never being bitter but being better every day.

"I only hope to serve this team as well as the people who have served me and the underclassmen so well."

Making their third consecutive national-tournament appearance and their second straight appearance at the Final Eight, 12th-ranked St. Mary's (21-4) couldn't have asked for a much better start against unbeaten BYU-Hawaii (24-0) at the Regency Athletic Complex. 

The Rattlers took a 2-1 lead into singles after taking victories on Courts 2 and 3 in doubles, capitalizing on their trademark doubles excellence.

Ally Maciel and Mariela Sarinana were first off the courts, prevailing 8-2 in No. 3 doubles over Kanela Adamson and Jade Griffin. The match drew even when BYU-Hawaii took a victory in No. 1, where Jamie Lee Denton and Kaylin Kruseman dropped their match 8-3 to Dallas Zhang and Summer Wen. 

All eyes were then squarely on Court 2, where Cristina Lopez and Petersen battled out a tough 8-5 victory over Karen Liu and Shu-Ying Hsieh to give the Rattlers the important 2-1 advantage.

But BYU-Hawaii had prevailed through such adversity once before at this national tournament, having also fallen behind 2-1 in their Round of 16 matchup before winning 5-2 to advance to face St. Mary's.

They came out firing again Thursday in singles, winning three decisions to take the match at 5-2. Dallas Zhang, the No. 1 singles player in the nation, defeated Jamie Lee Denton 6-1, 6-2 in No. 1 singles; Summer Wen, a freshman breakout star, defeated Kaylin Kruseman 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles; and Shu-Yin Hsieh beat Tyra Timm 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4.

But the Rattlers were not deterred.

"My favorite quote that I've always kept close to my heart," Petersen said, "is one from Winston Churchill. It says, 'Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage it takes to continue is what counts.' We have that. I know our team has that courage. 

"We will take everything we have and move forward."

Petersen credits her seniors for such sage wisdom, a sentiment Kruseman also shared Thursday. Whether it be drawing from Lopez's inspiring nature and "feisty" style of play, or using her sister-like bond with Denton to teach her the greater meaning of competing in sports, Kruseman expressed gratitude to the senior class. 

"Their presence and leadership, it's going to be weird to have that missing next year," Kruseman said. "It's been a great four years for them, and they've been well-awarded along the way."
 
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Players Mentioned

Joanie Bryant

Joanie Bryant

5' 6"
Senior
Jamie Lee Denton

Jamie Lee Denton

5' 8"
Senior
Kaylin Kruseman

Kaylin Kruseman

5' 4"
Sophomore
Cristina Lopez

Cristina Lopez

5' 1"
Senior
Tyra Timm

Tyra Timm

5' 3"
Sophomore
Kerry Wiegand

Kerry Wiegand

5' 8"
Senior
Ally Maciel

Ally Maciel

5' 3"
Freshman
Hannah Petersen

Hannah Petersen

Freshman
Mariela Sarinana

Mariela Sarinana

5' 6"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Joanie Bryant

Joanie Bryant

5' 6"
Senior
Jamie Lee Denton

Jamie Lee Denton

5' 8"
Senior
Kaylin Kruseman

Kaylin Kruseman

5' 4"
Sophomore
Cristina Lopez

Cristina Lopez

5' 1"
Senior
Tyra Timm

Tyra Timm

5' 3"
Sophomore
Kerry Wiegand

Kerry Wiegand

5' 8"
Senior
Ally Maciel

Ally Maciel

5' 3"
Freshman
Hannah Petersen

Hannah Petersen

Freshman
Mariela Sarinana

Mariela Sarinana

5' 6"
Junior

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