Doubles Point Costly for Women's Tennis

SAN ANTONIO — As it does in so many matches, the doubles point proved pivotal for the St. Mary's University Women's Tennis team on Saturday in a 4-3 loss to DBU.
 
"The doubles point is so vital for us at this level heading into the singles," said Director of Tennis Bill Macom. "Our combinations simply forgot how to be aggressive today, and that cost us. We have the ability to win all the singles but still lack some conditioning and focus, as well as the patience to cut down on our unforced errors. We're going to get back to some basics on Monday and change how we prepare for matches the rest of the season."
 
The Patriots (15-2, 3-0 Lone Star Conference) won their eighth-straight match and defeated the Rattlers for the first time in the last 15 meetings after they took the doubles point by sweeping all three spots.
 
DBU jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a straight-sets win at number five before the Rattlers broke onto the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-0 win by Karen Kondo (Tokyo, Japan) on court three.
 
Junior Paula Garrote (Alicante, Spain) continued to play well at number one, winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) over Caroline Hudson and sophomore Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) won 6-3, 6-1 on court four for the Rattlers (8-5, 2-2 Lone Star) third point of the day.
 
The Rattlers hit the road next week, playing at Texas A&M Kingsville on Thursday and Angelo State on Saturday before returning home for an always-fun Alumni Reunion match on Sunday, April 7 at 10 a.m.