TYLER, TEXAS – It was a long day for both programs that featured several rain delays, but the Patriots eventually split their matches on Friday evening against St. Mary's with the men winning and the women coming up just short.
 
On the men's side, the #2 ranked Patriots had a flair for the dramatic in the doubles matches. The Patriots dropped the first match by a score of 6-3, before the combination of Gonzalo Fernandez Gil and Egor Shestakov righted the ship with a strong 6-4 win.
 
That left the doubles point up to the #2 slot, and Joaquin Bianchi and Carel Wessel looked to take control. The two teams traded games in the early going, before meeting up at a 4-4 tie. The Rattlers would take a slim lead at 6-5 and push the Patriots to match point, but the pair of Bianchi and Wessel battled back to even the match at 6-6, and then finished off yet another clutch comeback in the tiebreaker to claim the win and the doubles point.
 
With a 1-0 lead heading into singles, #2 UT Tyler got to work quickly as Fernandez Gil kept the momentum going with a 6-4 win in his first set. He followed that up with a dominant showing in set two at 6-2, and the Patriots had a 2-0 lead.
 
Shestakov followed in the #3 slot, and delivered a big 6-1 set one win before following up with a 7-5 win in set two in which he trailed for just one game.
 
That put the Patriots at match point just over an hour into the singles matches, and it looked like it would come down to Wessel in the #4 slot. Wessel trailed at 2-3 before claiming four of the next five games on his way to a 6-4 win. In set two, Wessel trailed again at 2-1, before bouncing back with a hot streak that saw him win four of the next five games before closing out the match at a 7-5 advantage.
 
That final win gave the Patriots their fourth and final point of the day, as they claim their 11^th consecutive win and move to 3-0 in LSC play.
 
Over on the women's side, they faced the #17 ranked Rattlers, who are the second highest ranked team the Patriots have played against this season.
 
In doubles, it was the Rattlers who took the early advantage, as they claimed the #1 and #3 doubles matches in 6-2 fashion to earn the quick 1-0 lead.
 
In singles, the Patriots went down 3-0 after both Brooklyn Ross and Tanvikhaa suffered straight set losses despite the tough battles.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Patriots started to turn the tide of the match as Allison Schwartz rolled to her own straight sets win at 7-5, 7-5. In her match, she trailed for just one game on the way to posting the first Patriots point of the day.
 
After dropping her first set in a tiebreaker, Violetta Khisamova rebounded in a big way by running out to a 6-2 second set win to even the match. In the deciding set three, Khisamova kept it going with another 6-2 win to move the match to a 3-2 score with the Patriots knocking on the door.
 
The match would fall into the hands of Akshaya Suresh in slot #5, but she would fall in straight sets. That victory gave the Rattlers their fourth point needed for the win as they claimed the match at 4-2.
 
The loss gives the Patriots their first LSC setback, but they still remain right in the hunt as we approach the midway point of the season.
 
Both teams will now get a quick break before hosting DBU on Tuesday afternoon at the Summers Tennis Center. Those matches are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on March 28^th.