This Week in Rattlers Tennis
May 2-3 • at Lone Star Conference Championship • Arlington Tennis Center
Semifinals • May 2 • 1 p.m.
Finals • May 3 • 1 p.m.
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NET POINTS
•   St. Mary's Women's Tennis won a share of the Lone Star Conference regular season title for the second time (2022) after upsetting #2 Midwestern State on Sunday. The Rattlers will be the top seed at the upcoming Lone Star Tournament, earning a bye into the semifinals.
•   The Rattlers will face the winner of the UT Tyler vs Texas A&M-Kingsville first round match, while Midwestern State receives the other bye and will face the winner of the Lubbock Christian vs DBU match.
•   St. Mary's won both the 2022 and 2023 Lone Star Conference Tournaments and is 6-1 all-time, as the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were both canceled. The Rattlers are 1-0 against Angelo State, 2-1 against DBU, 1-0 against Cameron, 1-0 against Lubbock Christian and 1-0 against UT Tyler in the tournament's history.
•   All six singles players finished at .500 or better in Lone Star Conference play, led by junior Stela Sifuentes at 9-1. Alessia Terlizzi was 8-2, Paula Garrote and Selina Wu were 7-3, Gia Posito was 6-4 and Janel Ospanova was 5-5. Sifuentes has won seven matches in a row, while Posito has won four straight - and all four clinched the team win for the Rattlers.
•   The Rattlers climbed another three spots in the national rankings this week, moving to No. 11 after wins over Cameron and #2 Midwestern State. StMU has won seven matches in a row, with five coming over nationally-ranked teams. In three weeks, StMU has moved up 33 spots in the polls.
•   Sophomore Selina Wu remained steady in the national rankings at #48 in singles with her split last week. Wu is 24-9 overall, 14-4 in duals and 7-3 in LSC play this year. She ranks 6th in the Lone Star Conference rankings as 10 players from the league appear in the top-75 rankings.
•   Sophomore transfer Gia Posito won the team clinching point for the Rattlers in both matches last week and has done so in four straight. Posito is now 13-5 in duals this season and finished 6-4 in Lone Star action.
•   At the athletic department end of year awards banquet, junior Alessia Terlizzi won the Female Breakout Athlete of the Year, while Gia Posito was named the Female Newcomer of the Year.
•   Junior Stela Sifuentes has won seven straight singles matches, bringing her career total 50, ranking her eighth on the career singles victories charts. Next on the list in seventh is Jamie Lee Denton, who was 54-21 from 2013-16.
•   In the 15 victories this spring for the Rattlers, all six players have won the point that clinched the team victory. Gia Posito leads with five, while Paula Garrote, and Alessia Terlizzi have three, and Janel Ospanova, Stela Sifuentes and Selina Wu have won that all-important fourth team point twice.
