CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Extending its home winning-streak to 33 matches, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis program advanced to the championship match of the Southland Conference Tournament after blanking Northwestern State 4-0 in the semifinals Saturday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
A&M-Corpus Christi is the back-to-back SLC Tournament champion and will be going for the three-peat in the finals.
The top-seeded Islanders pulled out a highly intense doubles point against the fourth-seeded Lady Demons before cruising to a trio of singles victories to win the match. A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 24-2 overall and is on a 13-match winning-streak.
"This match was such a battle! The doubles point really changed the momentum. We have so much respect for Northwestern State and we've had so many intense battles over the years! They're one of the teams that runs their program with such similar values so it's always such a close match," said head coach
Steve Moore. "I'm so proud of the way our girls rose up and fought. A few were a little tight at first but they just kept grinding, looking for solutions and persevering, and that really paid off in this match. I'm very, very proud of the heart and character of our team."
In doubles, senior
Victoire Delattre and junior
Emma Aucagne got it started with a 6-3 win on court two. Juniors
Valeria Cherfus and
Kateryna Rublevska decided it on court three with a 7-5 victory.
Rublevska quickly increased A&M-Corpus Christi's lead to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 win on court six. The Islanders went up 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory by freshman
Sofia Pinto on court three.
The clinching point came on court five where Delattre registered a 7-5, 6-1 victory. Aucagne and junior
Naomi Moi McKenzie were also up a set when play was halted, while Cherfus was ahead 3-2 in the second.
The women are now 21-8 in SLC Tournament matches under Moore. They will face second-seeded UIW at 10 a.m. Sunday in the championship.
A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Northwestern State 0
Doubles Competition
1. Ayu Ishibashi and Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) def.
Naomi Moi McKenzie and
Sofia Pinto (AMCC) 7-6 (3)
2.
Emma Aucagne and
Victoire Delattre (AMCC) def. Mariella Minetti and Paige Wise (NSU) 6-3
3.
Valeria Cherfus and
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) def. Sofi Garcia and Dorota Szczygielska (NSU) 7-5
Singles Competition
1. Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) vs.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC) 6-4, 3-2
2. Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) vs.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC) 7-6 (6)
3.
Sofia Pinto (AMCC) def. Paige Wise (NSU) 6-1, 6-3
4.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC) vs. Sofi Garcia (NSU) 4-6, 3-2, unfinished
5.
Victoire Delattre (AMCC) def. Mariella Minetti (NSU) 7-5, 6-1
6.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) def. Renske Ubachs (NSU) 6-1, 6-0
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
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