Freshman Yaiza Vazquez, a member of the UTRGV Women’s Tennis Team, practices hits near the net before a doubles game against St. Mary’s University today at the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center on the Edinburg campus. AURORA ACEVEDO/THE RIDER PHOTOS
The UTRGV Women’s Tennis Team achieved a 5-2 victory today against St. Mary’s University at the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center, bringing its overall record to 5-5.
The doubles matches earned the Vaqueras their first point, with sophomore Barbara Martinez and junior Lea Karren beating fifth-year Rattler Ashley Penshorn and junior Kyndall Quiroz, 6-0.
In the second match, UTRGV secured a 6-4 win with sophomore Marjorie Souza and junior Isabelle Bahr against St. Mary’s senior Angela Vargas and redshirt sophomore Bailey Godwin.
The final match resulted in a 7-6 loss, with Rattlers senior Gabriella Ioannou and freshman Stela Sifuentes beating Vaqueras sophomore Daniela Rosenberger and freshman Yaiza Vazquez.
In the first singles match, UTRGV’s Bahr battled against Penshorn, with the Rattlers taking the victory 6-3 and 6-2. The second match had the Vaqueras’ Souza winning against Vargas 7-5 and 6-2.
The following match resulted in UTRGV’s Karren dominating Ioannou, 6-0 and 6-1.
Martinez bested St. Mary’s Quiroz, 7-5 and 6-2, in the fourth match.
In the fifth match, senior Kristyna Mamicova secured a victory against Rattlers junior Elena Munoz 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. The final match had Rattler Godwin beating freshman Valentina Urraco, 6-3 and 6-1.
Head coach West Nott said the win was a confidence booster for UTRGV since the next games are going to be part of the Western Athletic Conference.
“This is the pivotal part of the year,” Nott said. “[This is] what we trained for, trying to compete for a WAC championship.”
Nott said it was impressive to watch Karren play, saying she has developed into a great player over the last few years.
“She has a great attitude,” he said. “And she’s a competitor first and tennis player second. She really knows how to just mentally get on top of someone and put it away if she has the opportunity.”
Asked about Mamicova’s match that went into a third set, Nott replied it was a beautiful match and he was happy because she might not get more moments where she goes into tiebreaker with all the team crowding around her.
“For her to go out there and win in a gritty way in a long match, like, that must feel good for her,” he said. “And she’s also one of the hardest-working players on the team.”
Asked his thoughts about the whole team’s performance, Nott replied it was good overall.
“It wasn’t the best day for us,” he said. “But it was enough to get the job done. I think at the end of the day, that’s what you want as a coach, is just to be a little bit better than the other team if you can do it.”
Karren said she was playing well with Martinez and that being aggressive with the first points helped them win.
Asked about the whole team’s performance, she replied it was a tough day because it was hot outside.
“So that for sure didn’t help,” Karren said. “Like, we felt it right away on the double, even at the warmup, like, it felt very, very hot out there,”
Karren said in the singles match, she did the same thing and tried being aggressive from the start.
Souza said she started off good in the doubles match with Bahr, but their opponents started playing better and it became a struggle.
“But I’m happy that we got the job done,” she said. “So it was good for us to start with the doubles point.”
Souza said she is getting better and getting ready for the WAC games coming up next week.
The Vaqueras are set to play against Tarleton State University at 1 p.m. Friday in Stephenville.
Their next home game will be against Grand Canyon University at 10 a.m. March 24 at the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center.
