SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team fell to the St. Mary's University Rattlers 6-1 on Sunday at the Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex. 
 
UTRGV (6-4) battled in a tightly contested doubles session, but St. Mary's (6-0) took two of three matches to go up 1-0. 
 
UTRGV's freshman Marjorie Souza and sophomore Lea Karren fought for a 6-4 victory at No. 2 to give each team one doubles win. The No. 3 duo of sophomore Stefanie Wilske and junior Harlingen South alum Valeria Montero erased a 0-3 deficit and clawed their way to a 6-6 tie, but Marina Vigil/Gabi Ioannou held on for a tough 7-6 win to clinch the point for the Rattlers. 
 
St. Mary's secured the victory with singles wins at No. 3, No. 2 and No. 5. 
 
Sophomore Isabelle Bahr earned a solid win in her No. 1 bout. She rebounded well after dropping a tough first set 5-7 to dominate the second, winning 6-1 to force a third-set tiebreaker that she won to pick up a point for the Vaqueros. 
 
Senior Ana Platisa won the opening set of her No. 6 match 6-3, then dropped the second to Elena Munoz. She competed well, but Elena Munoz took the win for St. Mary's.  
 
Freshman Barbara Martinez battled in the No. 4 flight, erasing a 0-2 deficit early in the first set to push Alice Thane to a 6-6 tie. Thane won the frame 7-6 and took the match with a 6-4 second set. 
 
UTRGV will be back in action for a pair of home matches beginning on March 13 against Omaha at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. The Vaqueros will face NJIT at the Brownsville Tennis Center on March 14 with a free kids clinic to follow. 
 
Complete Results 
Singles (3, 2, 5, 1, 6, 4) 
1. Isabelle Bahr (UTRGV) def. Maria Garcia (StMU) 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 
2. Ashley Penshorn (StMU) def. Marjorie Souza (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3 
3. Marina Vigil (StMU) def. Lea Karren (UTRGV) 6-4, 6-2 
4. Alice Thane (StMU) def. Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) 7-6, 6-4 
5. Angela Vargas (StMU) def. Sandra Putz (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-3 
6. Elena Munoz (StMU) def. Ana Platisa (UTRGV) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 
 
Doubles (1, 2, 3) 
1. Maria Garcia/Alice Thane (StMU) def. Isabelle Bahr/Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) 6-3 
2. Marjorie Souza/Lea Karren (UTRGV) def. Bailey Godwin/Ashley Penshorn (StMU) 6-4 
3. Marina Vigil/Gabi Ioannou (StMU) def. Stefanie Wilske/Valeria Montero (UTRGV) 7-6 

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