Women's Tennis Wins Fifth Straight

SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Women's Tennis team kept the momentum rolling with a 5-2 victory over Northeastern State on Tuesday afternoon at Rohrbach Tennis Stadium.
 
The win is the fifth straight for the Rattlers as they improve to 6-3 in dual matches and complete the perfect 4-0 week as they head into Lone Star Conference play on Friday.
 
After suffering their first loss of the season against #33 Hawai'i Pacific on Sunday, the tandem of Paula Garrote (Alicante, Spain) and Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) returned to their winning ways on Tuesday, defeating Leah Gonzales Edwards and Valeria Teran 6-2 at number two doubles. Garrote and Terlizzi are now 7-1 this spring and 9-2 on the year.
 
Junior Karen Kondo (Tokyo, Japan) and freshman Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) clinched the doubles point for the Rattlers with their 6-4 victory on court one as they stretched their winning streak to five. The pair is also 7-1 this spring.
 
"We had a majority of our singles players keep the momentum going from the doubles point," said Director of Tennis Bill Macom. "Which is what we need to maintain for the remainder of the season. Paula, Karen, Alessia and Selina did a good job closing out their matches in straight sets. We still, however, need to make some improvements before this weekend, especially with our energy level. That was quite noticeable today. We are going to need a lot of energy against MSU and LCU to help pull off the upsets."
 
Garrote kept things rolling with a 6-2, 6-2 win at number one singles to win her third straight at the top ladder spot.
 
Kondo bested her opponent on court three by the same scores as Garrote, winning her fourth consecutive singles match to improve to 5-3 in the Gold and Blue.
 
Terlizzi was the match clincher on court four, winning 6-3, 6-2 as she tied Kondo for the longest active winning streak on the team at four straight.
 
Wu, currently ranked 18th in the nation according to the ITA, also posted a straight-sets win for StMU, winning 6-2, 7-5 at number two singles. Wu is now 2-0 on court two and 4-2 during the spring.
 
Fifth-ranked Midwestern State and 11th-ranked Lubbock Christian come to San Antonio this weekend to begin Lone Star Conference action. The Mustangs and Rattlers are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, while the Lady Chaps and Rattlers will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.