HAMMOND, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis team got off to a dominate start in a campaign towards defending its regular season title with a 4-0 sweep over Southeastern in the conference opener at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
It gets the Islanders (10-1, 1-0 SLC) on pace to be primed for defending their championship after they went undefeated in SLC play last year. A&M-Corpus Christi has now won their conference opener in each of the last five consecutive seasons, with three of those years ending in at least one championship.
"Southeastern was tough today on their home court, and this match was a battle! But our girls found a way and showed great mental toughness! We've got to do a better job starting with our process at the beginning of the match, but the girls know that and have tremendous character and commitment! They will keep getting better and better every week, and we have tremendous belief in them," said head coach
Steve Moore.
The Islanders started with a pair of 6-1 decisions at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles as seniors
Emma Aucagne/
Naomi Moi McKenzie and freshman
Ana Veroux/sophomore
Palina Saulevich worked themselves to their first doubles win in conference play.
With the 1-0 lead in the match, senior
Kateryna Rublevska notched a 6-2, 6-2 win at court five for the Islanders' first singles win of the year. Senior
Valeria Cherfus also earned herself a win at No. 4 singles after topping her Southeastern opponent 6-3, 6-2.
Aucagne clinched the match at No. 1 singles, gritting out a 6-4, 6-1 victory for her second win of the day. Before Aucagne secured the win, Veroux was a game away from earning her first conference dual leading 6-3, 5-3 at court three.
The Islanders improve to 16-1 all-time over the Southeastern Lady Lions.
The Islanders will continue on the road to Northwestern State (6-3) for a Monday matchup at 11 a.m. It will be the final road conference match of the season as A&M-Corpus Christi will play its remaining five SLC matches at home.
Match Results – A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Southeastern 0
Doubles competition (2, 1)
1.
Emma Aucagne/
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC) def. P. Suanarsa/Taisia Bolsova (SLU) 6-1
2.
Ana Veroux/
Palina Saulevich (AMCC) def. Bente Bierma/Alba Perez (SLU) 6-1
3. Claudia Di Leonardo/Leana Gomez (SLU) vs.
Kateryna Rublevska/
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) 2-3, unfinished
Singles competition (5, 4, 1)
1.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC) def. Alba Perez (SLU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Leana Gomez (SLU) vs.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC) 7-5, 1-1, unfinished
3. Bente Bierma (SLU) vs.
Ana Veroux (AMCC) 3-6, 3-5, unfinished
4.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC) def. Claudia Di Leonardo (SLU) 6-3, 6-2
5.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) def. P. Suanarsa (SLU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Taisia Bolsova (SLU) vs.
Victoire Delattre (AMCC) 6-3, 4-6, unfinished
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 16 NCAA Tournaments
- 33 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 41 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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