CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The reigning champions of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis will be back in action looking to defend their historic success when they get underway with the 2025 Southland Conference slate at home this weekend.
The Islanders (10-1) will face McNeese Saturday at 1 p.m. in a rematch of last year's championship matchup before taking on Southeastern Monday at 11 a.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
The weekend will begin their quest towards a third consecutive undefeated regular season championship after the Islanders accomplished the feat both in 2023 and 2024. It will also initiate a strive for five as last year's tournament match against McNeese saw A&M-Corpus Christi make history as the first team in the league to advance to four straight NCAAs.
Additionally, they joined an exclusive group of just 34 teams out of 328 programs in NCAA Division I to make an appearance in each of the last four NCAAs.
They haven't lost a regular season match to a Southland opponent since the 2022 season, making it a 17-match winning streak in conference play. Including the conference tournament, they have won 26 straight against Southland schools. Its helped them garner six regular season championships and seven tournament titles, both a conference record.
"This young Islanders team has such great character and talent, and have worked so hard to earn the right to be confident! This group really deserves to play with confidence and freedom because they've worked so hard and are so committed! We are so excited for these talented young Islanders to compete in their conference match! There is great history and tradition with the Islanders women's tennis team, and it was built through pillars of family, character, superior work ethic, and discipline! We always approach each match the same way: control what we can control and play each present point with intensity. And that, once again, will be our focus!" said head coach
Steve Moore.
Ana Veroux, the 2024 SLC MVP, will be a familiar face for the Southland as her heroics were what clinched that historic conference tournament championship for the Islanders. She was also 5-1 in conference singles last year, earning All-Conference First Team recognition as a freshman.
The Southland will mainly see a new-look Islanders team, however, with six newcomers this year.
Juliette Jalai has especially gotten into a comfortable rhythm in her collegiate debut, hoisting a perfect 10-0 singles record already. Fellow freshman
Leticia Tarocco and
Josefa Fuenzalida have posted seven singles wins while the duo of
Kseniya Ramanouskaya/
Yana Mykytyn have settled into No. 1 doubles for an 8-1 record.
The Islanders are 19-7 all-time over McNeese and 16-1 over Southeastern. They haven't lost to either team since 2018, and their only dropped match against the Lady Lions came all the way back in 2007.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 17 NCAA Tournaments
- 35 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 43 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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