ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The UT Tyler women's tennis program's run into the LSC tournament came to a close on Friday after a 4-1 defeat to #2 seed St. Mary's.
The Patriots will have plenty to celebrate as they pick up their first ever postseason victory in their very first try as a Division II program and also make an appearance in the LSC tournament semifinals for the first time in program history.
In the doubles portion of the match, it was St. Mary's who jumped out to the quick lead and secured the first point of the day. In the #1 slot,
Leony Deutschmann and
Kanika Sivaraman paired up to battle against Bailey Godwin and Angela Vargas. The two teams split the first two games, but a run of three consecutive game wins for Godwin and Vargas put them up 4-1 and out of reach for a 6-3 set victory.
In the #2 doubles slot,
Chloe Dix and
Brooklyn Ross paired up to split their first two games as well. However, it was the pair of Ashley Penshorn and Alice Thane who went on their own run of three consecutive game wins to put the Patriots away by a score of 6-2.
In the #3 doubles slot,
Chloe Chawner and
Tanvikhaa Saravanan paired up and were in the midst of a close 5-4 battle, but due to the Rattlers closing out the doubles point, the match went unfinished.
In singles, the Rattlers relied on a pair of quick victories to put them up 3-0 and push the Patriots to the brink. In the #3 line, Sivaraman took on Maria Garcia. After a close first set score of 6-4 in Garcia's favor, she came away with a 6-0 victory in set two to earn the second point for the Rattlers.
Penshorn and Deutschmann battled in the #1 line, and Deutschmann looked to recreate that magic she had against Angelo State. However, it was not to be, as she dropped the first set 6-0 and then after taking a narrow 4-3 lead, Penshorn won the final two games to claim another straight set's win.
The point of the day for the Patriots came from Saravanan in the #4 line. In the first set, she ran out to a 3-1 lead over Marina Vigil before Vigil tied things up at 3-3. Saravanan then ripped off three consecutive game wins to secure a 6-3 set win. In set two, it was Vigil who ran out to a 4-2 lead and put the pressure on Saravanan. The sophomore from India battled right back and won four consecutive games and claim a 6-4 set win to put UT Tyler on the board.
In the deciding match, Chawner took on Thane in the #6 slot. Set one was back and forth with Chawner owning the only two game lead between the two competitors. The set went to a tiebreaker, and it was there where Thane made her move and claimed a 7-2 victory in the race to seven and earn the first set.
In set two, Chawner again seized an early two game lead, but Thane battled right back and rattled off five consecutive game wins to lead 5-2. The senior from England kept herself alive with a pair of game wins, but ultimately fell by a score of 6-4 to allow St. Mary's to claim victory.
Next up for UT Tyler will be the waiting game as they wait and see if they have done enough to warrant selection into the NCAA South Central Regional bracket. Only the top four seeds selected by the regional committee will make the trip to the top seed's host site. That regional is set to run from May 6-7.
