NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis team continued to roll through the 2016 spring season on Tuesday. The Islanders added a 7-0 victory over defending regular season Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin in front of over 400 people at the Schlief Tennis Complex.
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"This was the defending champions on their home court," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "This is a very good team and this was a match that was way closer than the score indicated. Anyone who was here knows what a dog fight this really was."
The Islanders won the doubles point for the sixth straight match as the duo of Celia Rodriguez and Maider Martin won 6-2 at the number two position, while Hortense Boscher and Alexandra Belle won 6-2 at number three to clinch the point.
Boscher, Rodriguez, Martin and Judit Vives all won in straight sets in singles play as the Islanders cruised to victory on Tuesday. Boscher won 6-2, 7-5 at number one, while Vives came out on top 6-4, 6-4 at the number three position.
After setting a new record for singles victories in a career this past weekend against Lamar, Rodriguez added to her total – now with 64 – in a 6-4, 6-4 win at the number four singles spot. Martin coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 win at number five.
This week's Southland Conference Player of the Week, which was announced during the Islanders' match on Tuesday, Jelena Dzinic won her first set at number two 6-4, before falling 7-6 (5) in set two. She came back and won the 10-point tiebreaker 10-8.
Kerry Galhos was the only Islander to drop her first set, falling 6-4 at the number six position. She rallied in a big way, winning the next two sets 6-0 and 6-0 to give the Blue and Green the 7-0 shutout.
A&M-Corpus Christi is now 16-0 on the season and 7-0 in Southland Conference play after defeating both defending regular season champion SFA and defending tournament champion Northwestern State.
The Islanders will stay on the road and take on Nicholls Thursday at 11 a.m. A&M-Corpus Christi will then return to the Island to host Abilene Christian on Monday at 2 p.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
More from Moore
On the team's toughness:
"We got off to a slow start. We did not make the plays we needed to at the beginning, but these girls had the tenacity, they have the character. Most importantly, I feel they have a desire to play for each other. At this point in the year it's more about fighting and toughness than it is about tennis. Their fighting and toughness was incredible."
On Jelena's performance:
"She won with grit and toughness. It came down to a battle of wills and legs. The girls she beat has not lost to anyone. She's tough as nails and she's been on a roll. Jelena won it from the inside out."
On the team's improvement:
"We're learning. We're getting better. We have a lot to improve upon. I told them 'your heart is an A+, but the choices we made at the beginning were not an A+. We need to get better. We need to keep pushing each other. But I will call a spade a spade, this is a high character group of girls."
