Sifuentes Wins Consolation Bracket at ITA Regionals

ARLINGTON, Texas – St. Mary's University Women's Tennis player Stela Sifuentes fought back from an opening round loss at the ITA South Central Regional to win the consolation finals on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sifuentes, a junior from Eagle Pass, Texas, went 5-1 over the three days, winning all five matches in straight sets, including a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory in the consolation finals over Guadalupe Tocci from Texas A&M Kingsville.
 
"The region is very deep," said Director of Tennis Bill Macom. "But we could've easily had more players or doubles team advance a few more rounds. I think our team chemistry is a lot stronger than it was at this time last year. The girls just need to make sure they push each other in practice for the rest of the semester. I'm happy Stela ended the tournament for us with some solid tennis."
 
Sophomore Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating players from UT Tyler, Texas A&M Kingsville and Cameron in straight sets before falling to Sofia Giraldo from Midwestern State. She and doubles teammate Karen Kondo (Tokyo, Japan) made it to the semifinals before losing to fifth-seeded Jenna Goessel and Anastasia Uspenskaia from Cameron, 3-6, 6-1, 6-10. The Rattlers had a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker set, but the Aggies managed to score the final seven points for the win.
 
Senior Elisa Rodriguez (Houston) advanced to the consolation quarterfinals before getting knocked out by Sifuentes. Rodriguez lost the opening round and in the round of 16 pulled off the thrilling tiebreak win over UTPB's Mattea Bowe, 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 to set up the all Rattler quarterfinal.
 
All six Rattlers that traveled to the ITA Regionals won at least one match, as did all three doubles pairs.
 
St. Mary's has one fall tournament remaining, as they head north to San Marcos for the Bobcat Invitational on Oct. 26-27.
 
SINGLES
#3 Selina Wu (3-1)
Rd of 64: def. Paula Castellanos, UT Tyler, 6-2, 6-3
Rd of 32: def. Andrea Landaeta, Texas A&M Kingsville, 6-4, 6-2
Rd of 16: def. Anastasia Uspenskaia, Cameron, 6-2, 6-4
Quarterfinals: lost to Sofia Giraldo, MSU, 4-6, 1-6
 
#13 Karen Kondo (1-1)
Rd of 64: def. Kanika Sivaraman, UT Tyler, 6-1, 6-4
Rd of 32: lost to Martyna Jankowska, Cameron, 6-3, 1-6, [7-10]
 
Gia Posito (1-2)
Rd of 64: lost to #8 Eva Schwartz, Angelo State, 5-7, 3-6
Consolation Rd of 32: def. Reika Nagai, UT Dallas, 4-6, 7-5, [10-8]
Consolation Rd of 16: lost to Guadalupe Tocci, Texas A&M Kingsville, 5-7, 6-7 (6)
 
Elisa Rodriguez (2-2)
Rd of 64: lost to Yona Bancarel, UT Tyler, 2-6, 2-6
Consolation Rd of 32: def. Margot Aebischer, CSU-Pueblo, 6-3, 6-0
Consolation Rd of 16: def. Mattea Bowe, UT Permian Basin, 4-6, 6-1, [10-6]
Consolation Quarterfinals: lost to Stela Sifuentes, StMU, 2-6, 4-6
 
Stela Sifuentes (5-1)
Rd of 64: lost to #15 Luna Jokanovic, Texas A&M Kingsville, 1-6, 2-6
Consolation Rd of 32: def. Rhea Singh, UT Permian Basin, 6-1, 6-4
Consolation Rd of 16: def. Elyssa Ducret, UT Dallas, 6-1, 6-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: def. Elisa Rodriguez, StMU, 6-2, 6-4
Consolation Semifinals: def. Jessica Sue Li, Angelo State, 6-2, 7-5
Consolation Finals: def. Guadalupe Tocci, TAMUK, 6-1, 6-3
 
Alessia Terlizzi (1-1)
Rd of 64: def. Magda Wawrowska, Cameron, 6-0, 6-4
Rd of 32: lost to #2 Anda Ghinga, 4-6, 1-6
 
DOUBLES
#3 Wu/Kondo (3-1)
Rd of 32: def. Oshini Herath/Anastasiia Opolska, Lubbock Christian, 8-2
Rd of 16: def. Tuva Asplund/Fanny Bergstrom, UT Permian Basin, 8-3
Quarterfinals: def. Leonie Schondelmaier/Emily Buchanan, DBU, 8-5
Semifinals: lost to #5 Jenna Goessel/Anastasia Uspenskaia, Cameron, 3-6, 6-1, [6-10]
 
Sifuentes/Rodriguez (1-1)
Rd of 32: def. Carla Rodier/Emily Ryan, UT Tyler, 8-3
Rd of 16: lost to #2 Jessica Binzari/Anda Ghinga, Midwestern State, 5-8
 
Terlizzi/Posito (1-1)
Rd of 32: def. Mariia Koroleva/AnaMaria Zoric, Lubbock Christian, 8-4
Rd of 16: lost to #8 Hannah Yip/Sofia Giraldo, Midwestern State, 4-8