CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – It wasn't about how it started, but rather how it finished for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis program in a 7-0 sweep over Southeastern on Friday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi (14-2, 1-0 SLC) trailed on all three doubles courts before battling back to win the point over Southeastern (7-5, 0-1 SLC). The Islanders followed it up by winning three quick singles courts to clinch the match, and closed it out with a trio of three-set victories for the sweep.
"This match was much more competitive than the score. Southeastern has a darn good team and was up in several points today. We got down big in doubles and really showed up flat at the start, but chose to dig deep with tremendous character and heart to fight back. I was proud of the choices we made to dig out of deficits. We will have to bring more energy from the beginning and our girls know that and are committed to that, but I am proud of the heart of this team today," said head coach
Steve Moore.
The Islanders have won 28 consecutive home matches dating back to 2020. The women have not lost a conference home match since 2019 and are the two-time defending SLC Tournament champions.
A&M-Corpus Christi dropped No. 1 doubles, trailed 4-2 at No. 2 and 4-1 at No. 3 before rallying back. Juniors
Valeria Cherfus and
Kateryna Rublevska won five consecutive games at No. 3 for a 6-4 victory, and junior
Emma Aucagne and freshman
Palina Saulevich pulled out a nail-biter 7-6 (5) to win the doubles point.
The doubles win transitioned into singles where A&M-Corpus Christi quickly increased the lead to 2-0 after senior
Victoire Delattre won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5. The Islanders made it 3-0 after freshman
Sofia Pinto notched a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 3.
The clinching match came on court six. After winning a tight first set, Rublevska tallied a 6-4, 6-1. Rublevska remained undefeated with an 11-0 record on the year.
A&M-Corpus Christi came from behind for wins on courts one, two and four. Aucagne won her second match of the day 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 as she raced out to an early lead in the third set super tiebreaker and put it away. Aucagne is now 9-0 on the season at No. 1.
Junior Naomi Moi McKenzie registered a 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 win at No. 2 and Cherfus grinded out a 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 victory at No. 4. As a team, the women are now 65-11 (.855) in singles on the year.
Moore upped his conference record to 104-37 in women's tennis since 2009. The Islanders are 15-1 all-time against Southeastern.
The men will be in action Saturday when they host UT Arlington at noon. The women will close out the weekend Sunday with another home match at 11 a.m. against Northwestern State on Senior Day.
Live scoring will be available for both matches.
A&M-Corpus Christi 7, Southeastern 0
Doubles Competition
1. Flory Bierma/Putri Insani (SLU) def.
Naomi Moi McKenzie/
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) 6-2
2.
Emma Aucagne/
Palina Saulevich (AMCC-W) def. Gabrielle Dekkers/Carla Del Barrio (SLU) 7-6 (7-5)
3.
Valeria Cherfus/
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) def. Kate Oborina/Alba Perez (SLU) 6-4
Singles Competition
1.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC-W) def. Putri Insani (SLU) 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
2.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC-W) def. Gabrielle Dekkers (SLU) 3-6, 6-2, 11-9
3.
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) def. Carla Del Barrio (SLU) 6-1, 6-1
4.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) def. Kate Oborina (SLU) 4-6, 7-5, 10-6
5.
Victoire Delattre (AMCC-W) def. Alba Perez (SLU) 6-2, 6-0
6.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) def. Flory Bierma (SLU) 6-4, 6-1
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 14 NCAA Tournaments
- 30 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 39 Straight Semesters
- Islanders have received a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament three times
- Women's tennis has cracked the ITA top-75 national rankings three times
- Men's tennis has cracked the ITA national rankings 10 consecutive years
- Ranked nationally in NCAA DI as high as No. 35 for the men and No. 60 for the women
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