THIS WEEK IN RATTLERS TENNIS
April 19 • #21 Midwestern State • 1:30 p.m. • Rohrbach Tennis Stadium
Senior Day ceremonies will be prior to the match
• The St. Mary's Men's Tennis team returns home after a five-game road swing to host No. 21 Midwestern State on Sunday for Senior Day. The three seniors, Aaron Ben Anton, Bernhard Hauer and Fabian Rosales will be honored between the women's and men's matches. The Rattlers wrap up the regular season with a road trip to UT Tyler and UT Dallas next weekend.
• Midwestern State holds a commanding 23-1 lead in the all-time series against St. Mary's, and has won the last five in the series, which started in 2001. The lone win for the Rattlers came in 2021 in the Lone Star tournament.
• The Rattlers split last week, falling 7-0 at No. 13 Lubbock Christian before bouncing back to defeat UT Permian Basin 5-2 on Sunday. Against the Falcons, the Rattlers won the doubles point, while Diego Alvarez, Aaron Ben Anton, and Lucas Castillo Sanchez all won in straight sets, while Nikita Gavrilonoks won 10-8 in the international third-set tiebreaker. Castillo Sanchez clinched with his win at line one, his second of the year.
• The 12-3 start to the season for the Rattlers ties the best 15-match start in school history, matching the start of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 teams. The 2020-21 team finished 14-5, while 2021-22 was 17-7 and both advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional.
• Sophomore Lucas Castillo Sanchez was named the Lone Star Conference Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks on March 5 and March 12. Castillo Sanchez is 21-6 overall and 13-3 in duals this spring. He has a perfect 6-0 record at number two singles and is 7-3 at number one.
• Freshman Nikita Gavrilonoks leads with three team victory clinching wins this season, while Diego Alvarez, Lucas Castillo Sanchez and Leonardo Fabbri have done so twice, and four others have clinched the team win once.
• Freshman Victor Velter took over the team lead with doubles wins in the spring and is now 11-4. Velter and Lucas Castillo Sanchez are 7-2, while he and Ollie Eriksson are 2-1, and he and Florian Smalto are 2-1. Castillo Sanchez is second on the team with nine doubles victories.
