Sun Sets on Storied Season for Women's Tennis

Box Score ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – When fans look at a bracket, most expect a tough battle between the eighth and ninth seeds, and that proved true in the 2022 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship as the eighth-seeded Flagler Saints knocked off the ninth-seeded St. Mary's Rattlers on Tuesday, 4-2.
 
The Rattlers finish the 2022 season with a 21-4 record and their first-ever Lone Star Conference Tournament title, as well as a share of the regular season title. The Saints advance to face top-seeded Barry, which won 4-0 in its opening round.
 
St. Mary's dropped the doubles point, which was a rarity all season. The duo of Elena Munoz 
(Corregidora, Queretaro, Mexico) and Angela Vargas (Cuidad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico) playing together for just the second time this year, fell 6-2 at No. 1 doubles, but the No. 3 pairing of Gabi Ioannou (Melbourne, Australia) and Marina Vigil (Gijon, Spain) knotted things with a 6-1 win. Flagler grabbed the point with a 6-3 win at No. 2.
 
Fifth-ranked Luisa Hrda ended senior Ashley Penshorn's (Montgomery, Texas) season with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles to give the Saints the 2-0 advantage, but Rattlers senior Maria Garcia (Valencia, Spain) dropped only one game at No. 3 for the team's first point, 6-1, 6-0.
 
The Saints stretched their lead to two again, with a straight sets win at No. 5, but senior Alice Thane (Elloughton, East Yorkshire, England) answered moments later with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 6 for the 3-2 score.
 
Vigil won her opening set 6-3 at No. 4, but dropped the next two 6-4, 6-2 as the Saints clinched the win. 
 
Vargas was locked in a battle when the match ended. She dropped the opening set 6-4, but got the late break in the second set for the 7-5 win and was knotted at 3-3 in the deciding set.
 
The Rattlers say goodbye to Garcia, Thane and Vigil, who all had tremendous careers in the Gold & Blue. All three leave their names in the record books in several categories.