Women's Tennis Wins NCAA South Central Regional

SAN ANTONIO – The fourth-meeting at the NCAA South Central Regional between Midwestern State and host St. Mary's went the way of the Rattlers, 4-1 on Friday afternoon.
 
The teams battled not only each other, but the hottest day of the year as it was 96 degrees at the end of the match. The Rattlers (21-3) carried over the momentum from the Lone Star Conference Championship, winning their seventh-straight match against a nationally-ranked foe and 10th straight overall.
 
"The ladies played some quality doubles to get us off to a solid start," said Director of Tennis Bill Macom. "The heat was an equalizer for singles, so that doubles point was crucial. There were a lot of momentum shifts in each singles match and I'm proud that the girls did a great job dictating points all day."
 
The Rattlers and Mustangs are now 2-2 in the four meetings in the NCAA Regionals. St. Mary's advances to its seventh NCAA Quarterfinals with the win.
 
Seniors Ashley Penshorn (Montgomery, Texas) and Alice Thane (Elloughton, East Yorkshire, England) quickly took care of business at No. 2 doubles, winning 6-1, while junior Gabi Ioannou (Melbourne, Australia) and senior Marina Vigil (Gijon, Spain) won 6-3 at the third-spot for the first point of the afternoon.
 
Senior Maria Garcia (Valencia, Spain) doubled the Rattlers lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 3 and Ioannou pushed the advantage to three with her 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 5. Anda Ghinga put the Mustangs on the scoreboard with her 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles over Penshorn.
 
Thane and Vargas were in a race to the finish at the six and two spots, respectively, but Thane wrapped things up first, winning 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the win for StMU. Vargas was leading 6-3, 5-4 at No. 2 when the match ended and Vigil was locked in a one-set all battle at No. 4.
 
The Rattlers will await the seeding announcement for the Round of 16, which begins May 17 in Altamonte Springs, Florida.