LAST TIME OUT
The Patriots competed earlier this fall at their own Tyler Invite, an event co-hosted with Tyler JC. In that tournament, the Patriots got strong showings from their newcomers, as
Maria Antonio Ortega and
Sabrina Pugh combined to go 5-1 in their matches, with Pugh winning her flight.
Emily Ryan would go 2-1 in her matches, and the doubles pair of
Yona Bancarel and
Natalia Gorzny went 1-1 in her matches.
THE SPRING SEASON
The Patriots enjoyed their best season since joining the Division II ranks. They went 18-10, the most wins for the program since 2016, and punched their ticket to the LSC Tournament Championship for the first time in program history.
Six different players earned All-LSC honors, and all but one of those honorees will make their return to the program this season.
THE ROSTER
On the women's side, they will return six of the nine players from last year's strong year and add the efforts of four newcomers to help them reach even further heights.
Yona Bancarel and
Natalia Gorzny lead that returning charge, with the pair earning All-LSC honors in four different categories last season.
Claudia Di Leonardo,
Hailey Zhang,
Maria Antonio Ortega, and
Sabrina Pugh will join the Patriots program and will be a part of one of the top recruiting classes in recent program history.
Di Leonardo joins the program as a transfer from Division I Southeastern Louisiana and will bring some veteran experience. Zhang and Pugh hail from Texas, with Zhang being a top 200 player and Pugh being a top 400 player according to tennisrecruiting.net. Antonio Ortega joins the program as a top 120 player in Spain, rounding out the incoming class.
THE ITA REGIONAL
The ITA South Central Regional tournament will feature 78 total players battling it out in the singles and doubles draws as they look to qualify for the ITA Cup in October. 64 players will participate in the main singles draw, and 32 doubles teams will participate in the main draw for doubles.
The tournament will provide major stakes in the biggest test of the fall for the women's program. The winners of both singles and doubles draws will automatically qualify into next month's ITA Cup, hosted in Rome, Georgia. 16 players and teams will make up the singles and doubles draws, with eight receiving automatic qualification. The remaining eight players and teams will be selected at-large, with those coming out of the pool of finalists and quarterfinalists from each regional site.
Action will be split between Summers Tennis Center and Tyler Junior College on Thursday, and all matches will move to the Summers Tennis Center for Friday and Saturday.
The tournament is set to begin on Thursday at 8 a.m. with singles. Doubles will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
