#5 Midwestern State • March 22 • 10 a.m. • San Antonio (Rohrbach Tennis Stadium)
#19 Lubbock Christian • March 23 • 10 a.m. • San Antonio (Rohrbach Tennis Stadium)
NET POINTS
• St. Mary's Women's Tennis flips the calendar to conference play, hosting the first four matches over the next two weeks. The Rattlers get started with fifth-ranked Midwestern State on Friday and host #19 Lubbock Christian on Saturday.
• The Rattlers are 7-12 all-time against the Mustangs, but are a perfect 4-0 at home. MSU is the highest ranked team to visit Rohrbach Tennis Stadium since April 1, 2022 when Cameron was also ranked #5.
• St. Mary's is 2-0 all-time against the newest team in the Lone Star Conference, Lubbock Christian. The Rattlers won a 4-3 thriller in the league opener a season ago and then won 4-0 in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
• Junior transfer Karen Kondo became the second Rattler this spring to earn Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors, joining Paula Garrote from week 1. Kondo won seven matches last week, three in singles and four in doubles to help the Rattlers to a 4-0 week, including a sweep over #33 Hawai'i Pacific. Kondo won all three of her singles matches in straight straights, while she and partner Selina Wu were 4-0 with a win over the #47 tandem from HPU.
• The Rattlers are riding a five-match winning streak, including four wins last week. StMU defeated Bethel (KS) 7-0 before hopping on a bus. On Sunday, the team defeated both Ouachita Baptist and #33 Hawai'i Pacific 4-0 before coming home and winning 5-2 against Northeastern State on Tues.
• A big reason for the success of the Rattlers is doubles play this season. Both the number one team of Karen Kondo and Selina Wu and the two tandem of Paula Garrote and Alessia Terlizzi are 7-1 this spring, while the duo of Janel Ospanova and Stela Sifuentes are 6-2.
• Both Karen Kondo and Alessia Terlizzi have the team's longest active winning streaks in singles at four matches each. Sophomore Stela Sifuentes has the team's longest streak of the year as she won seven straight.
• Freshman Selina Wu finished 1-2 at the ITA Cup during the fall season and was the only freshman in the 16-player women's singles draw at the prestigious tournament. The Rattlers have had at least one participant the last four years.
• Selina Wu reached the finals of the South Central Regional, falling in the finals to second-seeded Alessa Maier from Texas A&M Kingsville. Wu went 5-1 at the tournament and earned an at-large berth to the ITA Cup.
