HAMMOND, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis delivered a dominant performance Friday, sweeping Southeastern 7-0 in a Southland Conference matchup at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The Islanders improved to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play behind a clean sweep of the singles courts after securing the doubles point. It comes after the Islanders had dropped a nail-biting 4-3 in their last conference match against Northwestern State, bouncing back to the win column with authority.
"I am incredibly proud of the heart and fight these Islanders showed today!" said head coach
Steve Moore. "Southeastern is a tough, tough opponent that we respect very much, and this match was much closer than the score! Our team is all about character and heart, and they fought for each other today. They are getting better at learning to play each present point with intensity and control the things we can control."
A&M-Corpus Christi jumped out early in doubles. The No. 1 pairing of
Yana Mykytyn and
Kseniya Ramanouskaya set the tone with a convincing 6-1 win. The Islanders clinched the doubles point shortly after at No. 2, where
Josefa Fuenzalida and Adriana Jimenez battled through a tight tiebreak to defeat their opponents 7-6 (8-6) as the Islanders carried a 1-0 lead into singles.
A&M-Corpus Christi quickly took control of the match once singles play began. At No. 6,
Juliette Jalai delivered the most decisive victory of the afternoon, rolling to a 6-0, 6-2 win to double the Islanders' advantage. Moments later, Jimenez added another point with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3.
The Islanders continued to build momentum as
Emma Bousquet won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 to put the match firmly in A&M-Corpus Christi's control. At No. 2, Ramanouskaya secured the clinching point, topping Southeastern 6-3, 6-4 to seal the conference victory.
A&M-Corpus Christi added two more wins to complete the sweep. Mykytyn handled business for a 6-2, 6-4 at the top court, while
Josefa Fuenzalida closed out the match with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 decision at No. 4.
The Islanders improve to 18-1 all-time over the Lady Lions, winning all of the last 18 meetings having only dropped the very first head-to-head all the way back in 2007. Since then, the Islanders haven't allowed Southeastern to win more than two points and have swept them in each of the last five meetings.
The Islanders will have a week off before getting back on the road to conference opponent UTRGV next Saturday as they go for the sweep in the series and South Texas Showdown in Edinburg.
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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