SAN ANTONIO — Both the St. Mary's University Men's and Women's Tennis teams ended the season ranked fifth in the South Central region, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
For the men, ending fifth is the highest since the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign, while it is the 12th time in the last 14 years the women's team has finished in the top five.
"We made a significant improvement record-wise over the previous year with quite a young team and were very competitive with everyone," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom about the Men's team. "Lucas (Castillo Sanchez) was a great leader in the matches and brought a lot of intensity to the practice court. It was great to qualify for the conference tournament and gain that experience. I am hoping that all of our returners play a handful of tournaments this summer and come back in August at a higher level and stronger physically, with our sights set on making Nationals."
The men finished behind Lubbock Christian, UT Tyler, Cameron and Midwestern State in the final regional ranking. Both Lubbock Christian and UT Tyler reached the final eight at the NCAA Championship, with the Chaps falling to eventual National Champion, Flagler.
The Rattlers' Men's team loses only three to graduation in
Aaron Ben Anton (Remseck, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany),
Bernhard Hauer (Vienna, Austria) and
Fabian Rosales (Hollywood, Fla.).
"While we certainly missed some key players in the lineup throughout the spring due to injury, we remained very competitive with Alessia (Terlizzi) and Selina (Wu) leading the way," Macom stated. "Our freshmen gained some valuable experience, and everyone picked up their doubles games at the end of the season, placing us in a very good position to win matches. We are looking forward to heading back to Nationals next season."
Midwestern State led the women's regional rankings, followed by UT Tyler, Angelo State, and Lubbock Christian. The UT Tyler Patriots advanced to the 2026 NCAA Quarterfinals, while the Mustangs lost in the First Round.
Terlizzi (Andria, Italy) and
Gia Posito (Houston) were the only two seniors on the Women's roster.
