MIDLAND, Texas — The No. 44 St. Mary's University Women's Tennis team returned to the win column on Saturday with a 5-2 victory at UT Permian Basin.
The Rattlers improved to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in Lone Star Conference play, while the Falcons fell to 5-4 on the season and 1-2 in league action.
"It is very difficult to win on the road in this conference," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "Especially after being down after the doubles. However, we stayed very patient in the windy and cold conditions during our singles and were just a bit stronger mentally than our opponents."
The Falcons took the early lead, winning the doubles sets at positions one and two after the match was delayed almost three hours due to Mother Nature.
Junior
Stela Sifuentes (Eagle Pass, Texas) finished quickly at the six spot, posting a 6-1, 6-2 victory to knot the team score at 1-1. The Falcons scored their final point of the day with a win on court five.
No. 53
Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) tied the score at 2-2 with her 6-2, 6-2 win on court one, and sophomore
Janel Ospanova (Karaganda, Kazakhstan) grabbed the lead with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on court two.
Senior
Paula Garrote (Cartagena, Spain) clinched her third victory of the year for the Rattlers on court four. She needed a tiebreaker in the first set before getting several breaks of serve in set two for the 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 final score.
After dropping her first set, junior
Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) fought tough in the second set, getting a late break of serve to even the match at one set each with a 7-5 win, and then she kept her foot on the gas in the third-set tiebreaker to win 10-4.
St. Mary's remains on the road, playing at No. 26 UT Tyler on Thursday, April 10 at 10 a.m. and at No. 21 DBU on Saturday at 9 a.m.
