TYLER, Texas — The St. Mary's University Women's Tennis team ran into its second-straight nationally-ranked opponent, falling 6-1 at No. 26 UT Tyler on Friday afternoon.
The Rattlers move to 12-10 overall and 5-4 in Lone Star Conference action with the loss. St. Mary's is in fifth place in the LSC standings with one match remaining on the docket and has clinched a spot in the conference tournament with its win over Texas A&M-Kingsville earlier this season.
The Patriots (16-6, 8-1) clinched at least a share of the LSC title with the win. UTT jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches, 6-4 on court one, 6-2 on court two and 6-3 on court three.
"Doubles were disappointing because we had been volleying well in practice this week, and we ended up playing too much baseline tennis," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "We lost a few first sets in singles too quickly, and that really set the tone on those courts."
Junior Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) continued her hot streak, knocking off No. 47 Natalia Gorzny, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 at number two singles. It is her fourth-straight win, and three of those have come against nationally-ranked foes. Wu is 7-1 in Lone Star Conference play and 18-3 this spring.
The other five Rattlers all lost in straight sets, though senior Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) forced a tiebreak in the second set against No. 10 Yona Bancarel in a tightly contested match, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
St. Mary's doesn't have long to dwell on the loss, as they play at UT Dallas at 10:30 on Saturday morning. The Comets are 6-12 on the year and 3-6 in LSC action.
