COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Four Islanders advanced to the second round of the 2015 ITA Texas Regionals and sophomores Jelena Dzinic and Hortense Boscher both navigated thier way into the third round in Thursday action at Texas A&M.
After taking down Stephanie Marchena of Southland Conference foe Lamar in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, Dzinic was perfect in her round of 64 match. The sophomore rolled past Incarnate Word's Claris Salinas, 6-0, 6-0, to push into the third round on Friday.
One of the Islanders' three newcomers in 2015-16, Hortense Boscher also played her way into the third round to give A&M-Corpus Christi a pair of players in Friday's main draw. Boscher advanced out of the first round in a straight set victory over Texas State's Yadira Rubio Ramirez. Boscher was able to clinch a tough first set by a score of 7-6 before finishing off Ramirez 6-2 in the second.
In her second match, Boscher upended Rice's Savannah Durkin to earn the right to face 2-seed Saska Gavriloska in tomorrow's round of 32.
"I'm really proud of the way these girls competed today and even prouder of the way they encouraged each other nonstop throughout this long day. We talked a lot about earning the right to be confident through hard work and this group has worked harder than any group I've ever had. We have a lot to work on but today was a great start."
Two other Islanders won their first round matchups as Celia Rodriguez and Maider Martin both knocked off their opening round foes.
Rodriguez, one of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's two captains, took down Mary Wright from SMU, 6-3, 6-2. The veteran leader then dropped a hard-fought battle in the second round to Texas Tech's Alexandra Valenstein. The Red Raider was the 14-seed in the regionals and needed a 10-6 tiebreak to knock off Rodriguez who battled back to force the decisive set by taking the second 6-2.
Martin persevered in her opening round matchup to defeat Laura Arciniegas of North Texas. The Islander swept through the first set, 6-0, but dropped the second, 4-6, forcing a decisive tiebreak. Martin took the match by finishing off the tiebreaker at 10-8. In her second round match, Martin ran into 8-seed Sarah Dvorak from Texas Tech who defeated Martin, 6-2, 6-2.
"I thought the girls did a good job controlling what they could control on a day with multiple rain delays," said Moore. "They did a good job managing their bodies to give themselves the best opportunity to compete when their name was called. I'm very proud and we're excited to compete again tomorrow."
Dzinic will face Sabrina Federici, the 7-seed from Texas Tech, at 8 a.m. in Friday's third round while Boscher squares off with 2-seed Saska Gavriloska.
