Friday, Feb. 24 • 12 p.m. • #14 St. Mary's (5-0) at Lubbock Christian (5-2)
Saturday, Feb. 25 • 10 a.m. • #14 St. Mary's at Midwestern State (5-2)
NET POINTS
• St. Mary's kicks off the Lone Star Conference season with a tricky road trip. The Rattlers begin on Friday at noon against Lone Star newcomer Lubbock Christian before playing at Midwestern State on Saturday at 10 a.m.
• This is the first season of tennis for the Lady Chaps, who are 5-2 on the year and 3-0 at home. Several players for the Rattlers defeated Lady Chaps during the ITA South Central Regional as StMU was 5-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles during the fall tournament.
• St. Mary's is 7-12 all-time against Midwestern State and will be looking for its first win in Wichita Falls as the Rattlers have lost nine straight there. The team has won three-straight over the Mustangs, including a 4-1 win in the NCAA Regional a season ago.
• The Rattlers won their first home match of the season, shutting out Our Lady of the Lake on Feb. 11.
• St. Mary's is ranked #14 in the national rankings, dropping two spots from the first week, despite being 2-0. Cameron ranks 11th and Angelo State is tied for 20th from the Lone Star Conference. The first individual rankings of the spring are set to be released on March 6.
• Freshman Stela Sifuentes earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors on Feb. 15 after not surrendering a single game in her win at #6 singles over Our Lady of the Lake. She and freshman doubles partner Alessia Terlizzi also won 6-1 at #3 doubles. She joins Callah Preti and Ashley Penshorn as Rattlers who have won the weekly award during their careers.
• St. Mary's was well represented in the final fall ITA individual rankings. Senior Ashley Penshorn is ranked #1 in the South Central Region and #12 nationally, while she and doubles partner Kyndall Quiroz are first in the region and seventh in the nation. Senior Angela Vargas ranks seventh in the region, while freshman Stela Sifuentes ranks 13th, senior Gabi Ioannou is right behind her in 14th and Quiroz holds down 18th. Vargas and Bailey Godwin are also sixth in doubles.
• The Rattlers have six teams on the schedule in 2023 they are facing for the first time in school history. Lubbock Christian, Mississippi College, Eckerd, Bentley, St. Thomas Aquinas and Palm Beach Atlantic are all first-time foes.
