This Week in Rattlers Tennis
April 3 • *at #5 Lubbock Christian (13-0, 2-0) • 2 p.m.
April 5 • *at #34 UT Permian Basin (7-4, 2-0) • 10 a.m.
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NET POINTS
•   The St. Mary's Men's Tennis team will be on the road the entire month of April, playing its final six Lone Star Conference matches away from San Antonio. This week, the Rattlers face a pair of nationally-ranked teams in #5 Lubbock Christian on Thursday and will play at #34 UT Permian Basin on Saturday.
•   The Rattlers have won four of their last five matches and enter the national rankings this week at #47. The lone blemish during the stretch was a loss to then-#14 Harding. St. Mary's is one of six teams in the Lone Star Conference to be ranked in the top-50.
•   St. Mary's is 0-2 all-time against Lubbock Christian and 0-1 in Lubbock, dropping a close 4-3 decision in 2023. The Rattlers are 10-2 all-time against UT Permian Basin but the Falcons have won the last two meetings with identical 5-2 scores. StMU is 3-1 in Odessa and this is the second-straight season the teams will meet on the UTPB campus.
•   True freshman René Barbier competed in his first collegiate match over the weekend, winning 6-1, 6-1 at number four singles and 6-1 at number two doubles with senior Ian Freire against Sul Ross State.
•   The win over #25 Ferris State on March 14 was the first victory over a nationally-ranked team since April 10, 2021, when the Rattlers defeated #22 Cameron, 4-3 in a Lone Star Conference match.
•   The Rattlers improved to 3-3 all-time in Lone Star Conference openers with the 6-1 victory over Western New Mexico on Friday. The Mustangs were the sixth different team the Gold and Blue have faced in the opener (Arkansas Fort-Smith, Midwestern State, St. Edward's, UT Permian Basin, UT Tyler and Western New Mexico).
•   Freshman Lucas Castillo Sanchez leads the team with nine dual victories in 2025. He is 9-3 with a 2-1 record at #2, 4-1 mark at #3, and 3-1 record at #4 singles.
