Women's Tennis Successful in Return Home

SAN ANTONIO – Playing at home for the first time in six weeks, the St. Mary's Women's Team made the most of the beginning of their Homecoming festivities with a 5-2 win over Texas A&M Kingsville.
 
The Rattlers (16-3, 4-1 Lone Star Conference) won their eighth-straight match and 10th in their last 11 outings. The lone loss came at the hands of Division I foe, UTRGV. The Javelinas move to 6-9 on the year and 2-5 in league action.
 
By identical scores of 6-3, the duos of Ashley Penshorn (Montgomery, Texas) and Kyndall Quiroz (San Antonio) at No. 1 plus Gabi Ioannou (Melbourne, Australia) and Stela Sifuentes (Eagle Pass, Texas) at No. 3 won to give the Rattlers the opening point.
 
"It was nice to finally be playing at home," Director of Tennis Bill Macom said. "We did a good job at doubles once again. That was a big plus since the weather became quite hot. I'm glad we were able to get the clinching matches done in straight sets."
 
Ioannou carried over the momentum, winning quickly at No. 5 singles to double the lead, 6-1, 6-2. Ioannou's win snaps a small two-match losing streak in league action as she goes to 1-2 with her first match this season at the fifth-ladder spot.
 
Texas A&M Kingsville scored its first point with a win at number three, but the Rattlers saw senior Angela Vargas (Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico) stretch the lead back to two with her 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 2. The win is the sixth-straight for Vargas as she needs one more to reach 20 singles victories for the second-straight year. In 2022, Vargas was 21-6 overall and 16-3 in duals, while this year she is now 19-6 with a 14-4 dual mark.
 
Junior Elena Munoz (Corregidora, Queretaro, Mexico) clinched the team win for the Gold & Blue with the same score as Vargas, 6-1, 6-3. Munoz snaps a four-match losing skid and wins her first dual in Lone Star action, improving to 1-2.
 
Sifuentes needed a pair of tiebreakers, but the freshman managed her seventh-consecutive victory in straight sets, winning 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) to improve to 4-1 in league action and 12-2 in duals.
 
In keeping with the Homecoming spirit, members of both the men's and women's tennis teams hosted a free clinic for the community. Several San Antonio tennis fans took advantage to learn new things from the Rattlers.