RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team won its third Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match in a row Sunday, defeating the reigning conference tournament champion New Mexico State (NM State) Aggies 6-1 at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. 
 
UTRGV (8-6, 3-1 WAC) took the doubles point in its third consecutive WAC contest. Junior Lea Karren and sophomore Barbara Martinez earned a swift 6-1 win in the No. 1 flight – their second in a row. Senior Stefanie Wilske and freshman Yaiza Vazquez picked up a gritty 6-3 win in the No. 3 flight to secure the 1-0 lead for the Vaqueros. 
 
Junior Isabelle Bahr and sophomore Marjorie Souza battled in a grueling No. 2 match but were defeated 6-4 by NM State's Bella Nguyen/Miranda Bishard.  
 
The Aggies (8-9, 2-2 WAC) tied the match at 1-1 with a singles win on the fifth court. 
 
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 3-1 lead as Souza and Bahr earned straight-set wins in the third and second singles flights, respectively. Souza, who now has a three-match winning streak going in conference play, closed her bout strong to win 6-4, 6-3. Bahr grinded out long rallies to come out on top 6-3, 6-3. 
 
Martinez clinched the victory in a competitive No. 4 flight. She outdueled Natsuki Nishimura in a 7-5 first set, then rolled in the second to finish it 6-3. 
 
Wilske captured a well-earned win in a lengthy No. 6 match. She won the first set 6-4, then Nguyen came back to win the second 6-1. They played a full third set and it was a back-and-forth, extremely tight affair until Wilske went on a run to finish it and claim the victory 7-5 in the third to make it 5-1 in favor of UTRGV and fire up the crowd as all eyes turned to the main court. 
 
Karren showed incredible tenacity in the No. 1 heavyweight battle. After dropping the first set 6-0 to Anna Pinaieva and falling behind 0-3 in the second, Karren came roaring back to win four straight games, then closed the frame strong to win it 7-6 (7:5). With the team victory decided, the third set was played as a 10-point tiebreaker, and the student-athletes exchanged scores until Karren delivered precise strikes to earn the 10:7 win. 
 
UTRGV's next match is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Seattle U.  
 
Complete Results
Singles (5, 3, 2, 4, 6, 1) 
1. Lea Karren (UTRGV) def. Anna Pinaieva (NM State) 0-6, 7-6 (7:5), 1-0 (10:7) 
2. Isabelle Bahr (UTRGV) def. Mingfang Lisa Zhu (NM State) 6-3, 6-3 
3. Marjorie Souza (UTRGV) def. Valeriia Ivanovskaia (NM State) 6-4, 6-3 
4. Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) def. Natsuki Nishimura (NM State) 7-5, 6-3 
5. Miranda Bishard (NM State) def. Kristyna Mamicova (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-0  
6. Stefanie Wilske (UTRGV) def. Bella Nguyen (NM State) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 
 
Doubles (1, 3, 2) 
1. Lea Karren/Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) def. Anna Pinaieva/Mingfang Lisa Zhu (NM State) 6-1
2. Bella Nguyen/Miranda Bishard (NM State) def. Isabelle Bahr/Marjorie Souza (UTRGV) 6-4 
3. Yaiza Vazquez/Stefanie Wilske (UTRGV) def. Dora Kurdi/Valeriia Ivanovskaia (NM State) 6-3

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