SAN ANTONIO — Playing its third match in five days, the St. Mary's University Women's Tennis team lost a 5-2 decision to Division I Lamar on Wednesday afternoon.
The Rattlers moved to 6-6 on the year with the loss, while the Cardinals improved to 7-6 and avenged a loss last season in Beaumont to StMU.
"I thought this was a match we could've won today had we gotten the doubles point," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "We gave away too many free points with double faults, and other unforced errors, which cost us the match."
Seniors
Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) and
Gia Posito (Houston), who moved up to No. 25 in the nation in this morning's rankings by the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) got a late break of serve to win 7-5 at number one doubles, but the Cardinals were able to win 6-3 on the other two courts to get the first point of the day.
In singles action, both Terlizzi and junior
Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) won their third consecutive singles matches and lines one and two, respectively.
Terlizzi improved to 4-0 this season against Division I opponents, though three were in early exhibition matches, with her 6-0, 6-2 victory on court one, while Wu is 2-0 in regulation matches against DI foes, defeating Luana Paiva 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) at number two singles. She also defeated Eastern Washington's top player in the season opener.
Posito was able to force a third set at number four singles after winning the first set 7-5, but Martina Alcaino was able to pull out the next two sets 6-1, 10-5 for the final point of the match.
The Rattlers begin Lone Star Conference play on Sunday, hosting Cameron on Sunday at 10 a.m. It will be the first time since April 6, 2012, that neither team appears in the national rankings when facing off. The rivals have met 14 times in the ensuing years, with at least one team ranked.
