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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi came from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 4-2 victory over Northwestern State to win it first Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament championship Sunday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
The Islanders (22-5) will extend their historic season by securing the Southland’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Sunday, the Islanders rallied back from a 2-0 hole to win three straight singles matches, before Celia Rodriguez clinched the match for the Islanders in No. 4 singles in a second-set tiebreaker.
The win also sends both of the A&M-Corpus Christi men’s and women’s tennis teams to the NCAA tournament. The men’s team beat Lamar 4-1 earlier in the day.
"These big matches are not about tennis," Islanders’ director of tennis Steve Moore said. "They are about fighting, grit and never giving up. It doesn't matter who hits the ball better, it matters who fights harder, grinds, manages the wind and keeps believing in themselves. These girls were all about that. They were just the best fighters, the most high-character fighters, and honestly a lot of teams deserve this, but these girls deserve this.
"They were the highest-character group I could ever ask for. We were not the flashiest team. We did not have a lot of big five-star recruits and we went 22-5 because they showed up to play hard every match, they encouraged each other every match, and they committed to saying, 'we're going to outfight people and we're going to out-encourage people and we are going to stick together and out-persevere people. You say that a lot, and you encourage your team to do that, but to actually see a team do it is incredibly fulfilling. The character of these girls I can't say enough about."
The Islanders dropped the doubles point on courts one and three to fall behind 1-0 to the Lady Demons. The sophomore duo of Maider Martin and Rodriguez breezed past Natalya Krutova and Kateryna Piatakova, 8-2, in No. 2 doubles, before the senior-freshman duo of Sandra Burges and Judit Vives fell 8-4 to Polina Konop and Taiana Larina in No. 1 doubles. The doubles point then came down to No. 3 doubles between the Islanders pair of Stefania Nicolae and Kerry Galhos and the Northwestern's duo of Aliona Ladutska and Daniela Simonova. The Islanders fell behind early before dropping an 8-5 loss.
Northwestern built a 2-0 lead after Nicolae dropped a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Konop in No. 1 singles. The Islanders however fought and battled their way back to knot the match at 2-2. Martin took care of business in No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-0 straight-set victory over Ladutska, before Galhos evened the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Simonova. Burges then put the Islanders in front after grinding out a three-set win in No. 5 singles over Krutova. The senior garnered the first set 6-3, before falling 6-3 in the second set. In the third, Burges powered her way to a 6-1 win to tack on the Islanders third point of the day. She now has won seven straight matches and has tallied a 21-5 overall record.
After Burges clinched her match, Rodriguez and Vives were battling in the second set. Rodriguez won her first set 6-4 in No. 4 singles, while Vives squeezed out a 7-5 first set over Larina in No. 2 singles. Vives was down 5-2 in the first set and won five straight games to win 7-5. She dropped the second set 6-3 just before Rodriguez clinched the match for the Islanders.
Rodriguez fell behind in the second set, 4-2, before battling her way back to even the match at 4-4. The sophomore then pushed ahead 5-4 after winning the next game. However, with match point on the line, her opponent Piatakova, won the next two games to garner a 6-5 lead. Rodriguez never gave up though and won the next game to force the tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Rodriguez fell behind 5-2, before fighting her way back to win five straight points and clinch the match for the Islanders. The Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain native has won 15 straight matches for an impressive 22-3 record, including a perfect 18-0 record at No. 4 singles.
"This year they were wiser and just a little smarter," Moore said. "To see Sandra Burges in the third set just keep swinging free and going for it, and even when Celia looked like she was going to win, and then she loses it, and she just keeps coming, keeps chopping wood, and keeps believing. That was the big question in this match, I knew they were going to fight hard and knew they were going to care, I just wanted them to play free and at the end they really did."
The Islanders will find where they are headed and who they will play in the NCAA tournament during the selection show on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., CT.
Singles:
1. Polina Konop (NWST) def. Stefania Nicolae (AMCC) 6-1, 6-3
2. Tatiana Larina (NWST) vs. Judit Vives (AMCC) 5-7, 6-3, unfinished
3. Maider Martin (AMCC) def. Aliona Ladutska (NWST) 6-3, 6-0
4. Celia Rodriguez (AMCC) def. Kateryna Piatakova (NWST) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Sandra Burges (AMCC) def. Natalya Krutova (NWST) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
6. Kerry Galhos (AMCC) def. Daniela Simonova (NWST) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles:
1. Polina Konop/Tatiana Larina (NWST) def. Sandra Burges/Judit Vives (AMCC) 8-4
2. Maider Martin/Celia Rodriguez (AMCC) def. Natalya Krutova/Kateryna Piatakova (NWST) 8-2
3. Aliona Ladutska/Daniela Simonova (NWST) def. Stefania Nicolae/Kerry Galhos (AMCC) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,3,6,5,4)