LUBBOCK, Texas — The St. Mary's University and Lubbock Christian University Women's Tennis teams left it all out on the court in a prolific battle that saw 10 singles sets in the six matches either go to a tiebreaker or decided with a late break of serve to avoid a breaker, as the Lady Chaps won 4-3 on Thursday afternoon.
"We were fortunate to get the doubles point with so many changes in momentum, but it put us in a good position for singles," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "I feel our low first serve percentage was a difference maker on each court, where we could've won some of those in straight sets. This match was within our grasp for sure."
Four of the six singles matches went to a deciding third set, and the number three doubles teams of freshman
Breeze Simon (Dallas) and junior
Selina Wu (San Gabriel, Calif.) from St. Mary's and Kristel Jativa and Sofia Valero Trevin from LCU went to a tiebreaker, with the Rattlers duo winning 7-6 (7-2). That win gave the Rattlers (11-8, 4-2) the doubles point.
The Lady Chaps (11-5, 4-2) won at one doubles as the third-ranked tandem of Andrea De Bernardo and AnaMaria Zoric beat seniors
Gia Posito (Houston) and
Alessia Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) 6-4, while the Rattlers duo of freshmen
Isabella Olsson (Sverige, Sweden) and
Sarah Wooten (Beaumont, Texas) won 6-3 on court two.
Wu bounced back after losing a heartbreaker on Monday to defeat No. 75 Zoric 7-5, 6-4 at number two singles to give the Rattlers a 2-0 edge. However, LCU won the next four singles matches to clinch the win.
Wooten played like an upperclassman at number five singles, fighting back from a 6-3 first-set setback to win 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in the final two sets, getting the breaks of serve when they mattered most.
Olsson and Oshini Herath on court three were separated by only a few points as all three sets between the two went to a tiebreaker, and the third-set breaker went extra points, with Herath eventually winning 8-6.
St. Mary's looks to snap a two-match losing skid at UT Permian Basin on Friday at Noon. The Falcons are 4-11 on the year and looking for their first LSC victory.
