CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In a marathon Senior Day, lone senior
Victoire Delattre won the deciding match in a 4-3 result over Northwestern State on Sunday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
A four-year letterwinner, Delattre improved to 53-9 in her career in singles including 10-2 this season after outlasting Dorota Szczygielska 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-0 on court five. Delattre, a two-time All-Conference selection and also an SLC All-Academic First-Team honoree, is on pace to graduate this spring with a degree in chemistry. Delattre has been a part of the team's back-to-back NCAA Tournament runs.
"I'm so proud for Victoire on Senior Day clinching! What a rock and champion Victoire has been for this team. You know in adversity that girl is going to give all of her heart, so the ending was special," said head coach
Steve Moore.
The victory extended A&M-Corpus Christi's home winning-streak to 29 matches. The women have not lost a conference home match since 2019.
The match started at 11 a.m. but was stopped at 11:24 a.m. due to rain. Play resumed at 3:07 p.m. after a three hour and 43-minute stoppage. It resulted in about eight hours of time at the courts after it was all said and done.
"For eight hours, two high character programs battled with all their hearts. All the good values of sports you saw today – grit, family, encouragement, never quit, heart and guts. Both teams were a full buffet of those things," said Moore. "I have so much respect for Northwestern State. It's been back-and-forth with them for 15 years. They stand for all the special values you respect as a coach – commitment to excellence, loyal coaches and administrators, character leadership, character student-athletes; they do all the hustle extras like raising money, player development, scouting and facility improvements. And we try very hard at those things also! It's always special when these two programs compete. To me, it represents all the good things in collegiate sports that make coaches, players, donors and communities love this level!"
The Islanders got it started with a win in doubles. They were leading on courts one and two, and were tied on three when the rain delay started. When play resumed, senior
Naomi Moi McKenzie and freshman
Sofia Pinto posted a 6-2 win on court one, and junior
Emma Aucagne and freshman
Palina Saulevich notched a 6-4 victory on court two.
McKenzie made it a 2-0 day for herself with a quick win in singles. She submitted a 6-1, 6-3 result on court two. A&M-Corpus Christi won another straight-setter 6-4, 6-2 by junior
Valeria Cherfus on court three.
A&M-Corpus Christi led the match 3-0 overall, but the Lady Demons just would not go away. Northwestern State trimmed it to 3-2 after pulling out three-setters on courts one and three.
Delattre won the first set but had to overcome adversity after dropping a tough second set tiebreaker 7-3. She responded with a triumphant 6-0 win in the third to seal the match.
Women's tennis improved to 105-37 in conference under Moore since 2009. Moore also improved to 12-11 against the Lady Demons, who were previously coached by Islanders assistant
Olga Bazhanova. The Lady Demons won the SLC regular season title last year.
It capped a 3-0 weekend overall for Islanders tennis after the women beat Southeastern 7-0 on Friday and the men topped UT Arlington 4-2 on Saturday.
Both the men and women will continue conference play Friday when they hit the road for matches at New Orleans beginning at 11 a.m.
A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Northwestern State 3
Doubles Competition
1.
Naomi Moi McKenzie/
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) def. Tjasa Klevisar/Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) 6-2
2.
Emma Aucagne/
Palina Saulevich (AMCC-W) def. Dorota Szczygielska/Renske Ubachs (NSU) 6-4
3.
Valeria Cherfus/
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) vs. Sofi Garcia/Paige Wise (NSU) 4-4, unfinished
Singles Competition
1. Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) def.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC-W) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
2.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC-W) def. Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Paige Wise (NSU) def.
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
4.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) def. Sofi Garcia (NSU) 6-4, 6-2
5.
Victoire Delattre (AMCC-W) def. Dorota Szczygielska (NSU) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0
6. Mariella Minetti (NSU) def.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) 5-7, 7-5, 10-3
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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