LAKE CHARLES, La. – The 31st championship for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis came Wednesday after the women won the Southland Conference regular season title with a 6-1 victory at McNeese at the Nancy Hank Tennis Center.
The women won their 10th SLC title in program history and fifth regular season crown. It was the 31st championship overall for A&M-Corpus Christi tennis combining the men and women, and sixth in the last three seasons.
The women, who extended their winning-streak to eight matches, locked up the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. They improved their record on the season to 19-2 overall and 6-0 SLC.
"We are so proud of these high character girls – it's hard to find the words. All year long, they chose to be a true team! Since September, they've embraced the extremely tough, challenging fitness routine and it really paid off today. I felt like that could've all played five more sets," said head coach
Steve Moore. "These girls have been a joy to coach and the way they fought today was special! Character, family, grit is our team pillars and these girls stood for those values big time today."
The Islanders started fast by winning the doubles point. Junior
Naomi Moi McKenzie and freshman
Sofia Pinto posted a 6-2 victory on court one, and senior
Victoire Delattre and junior
Emma Aucagne followed with a 6-3 win on court two.
A&M-Corpus Christi won another early into singles play after Pinto notched her second victory of the day at No. 3.
Leading the overall match 2-0, play was halted after rain started to come down. It resulted in about a one-hour delay.
When play resumed, A&M-Corpus Christi extended its advantage to 3-0 when Delattre finalized a 6-4, 6-2 decision on court four. The clinching match came at No. 5 where junior
Valeria Cherfus won 6-3, 7-6 (0). Both Delattre and Cherfus improved to 6-0 SLC this season.
The Islanders won a pair of third set super tiebreakers after clinching. Aucagne came out on top of a back-and-forth 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 match on court one, and McKenzie grinded for a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 10-8 victory at No. 2.
The Cowgirls entered the match 7-0 at home.
The women are now 109-37 against conference opponents under Moore since 2009 and 15-4 against McNeese.
The A&M-Corpus Christi men and women will conclude conference play Friday at Lamar. The women begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men at 3 p.m.
A&M-Corpus Christi 6, McNeese 1
Doubles Competition
1.
Naomi Moi McKenzie/
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) def. Tiana Fox/Emma-Lou Pommiers (MCN) 6-2
2.
Emma Aucagne/
Victoire Delattre (AMCC-W) def. Natalia Ballo/Luna Jokanovic (MCN) 6-3
3. Ariane Monlleo Sanch/Maria Wang Martinez (MCN) vs.
Kateryna Rublevska/
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) 5-5, unfinished
Singles Competition
1.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC-W) def. Emma-Lou Pommiers (MCN) 6-4, 4-6, 12-10
2.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC-W) def. Heta Nuutinen (MCN) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 10-8
3.
Sofia Pinto (AMCC-W) def. Tiana Fox (MCN) 0-1, retired
4.
Victoire Delattre (AMCC-W) def. Natalia Ballo (MCN) 6-4, 6-2
5.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) def. Maria Wang Martinez (MCN) 6-3, 7-6 (7-0)
6. Ariane Monlleo Sanch (MCN) def.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) 6-4, 6-4
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 14 NCAA Tournaments
- 31 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
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Tennis, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersTennis), Instagram (
@IslandersTennis) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Tennis).
#ShakasUp
