RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team fell, 5-2, to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (AMCC) Islanders Thursday in a non-conference South Texas Showdown match, presented by Rally Credit Union, at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
UTRGV (2-2, 0-0 SLC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with wins on the first and third doubles courts. In the first flight, sophomore
Rhea Makesar and freshman
Mariia Bakhtina dominated for a 6-1 win. Makesar was electric on the net and the two communicated well to put the match away quickly.
The No. 3 match was played at a different pace, where both teams patrolled the baseline and dueled in long rallies. The Islanders took an early lead, but UTRGV's duo of junior
Valentina Urraco and senior
Kristal Dule responded quickly for a 3-1 lead. The Vaqueros executed well down the stretch, winning the last three games with mixed-speed shots to secure the doubles point with a 6-2 match. AMCC won the second flight, 6-4.
Corpus (8-0, 0-0 SLC) came storming back in singles with straight set wins on the first, sixth and second courts to take the 3-1 lead. The middle flights were locked in competitive battles that saw momentum swing often.
Makesar carried her strong play from doubles to singles to capture a hard-earned win in the third flight, trimming the deficit to 3-2. After dropping the first set, Makesar used a big serve and powerful stroke to get up early in the next two sets. She held off a Corpus comeback effort in the third to secure the comeback win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Sophomore
Madeleine Joffe pushed her match on the fifth court but was defeated by
Josefa Fuenzalida to secure the team win for the Islanders. Joffe played from behind in all three sets and showed her resilience to chip away at the deficits. In the second set, she came back from trailing 0-3 to win the frame 6-3 as she covered the court with speedy movements and placed lobs well. With the third set knotted at 3-3, Fuenzalida closed strong to take the next three games and clinch the win at 4-2. AMCC picked up its fifth point in the fourth flight with a long, back-and-forth match.
Corpus picked up three points toward the Showdown standings with the win and now leads, 20-14, with 11 events still to be determined.
Up next for the Vaqueros is a match at Southwestern on Feb. 20.
Results
Doubles (1, 3, 2)
1.
Rhea Makesar/
Mariia Bakhtina (UTRGV) def. Kseniya Ramanouskaya/Yana Mykytyn (AMCC) 6-1
2. Josefa Fuenzalida/Leticia Tarocco (AMCC) def.
Madeleine Joffe/
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) 6-4
3.
Valentina Urraco/
Kristal Dule (UTRGV) def. Adriana Jimenez Casado/Ana Veroux (AMCC) 6-2
Singles (1, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4)
1. Ana Veroux (AMCC) def.
Yaiza Vazquez (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-2
2. Leticia Tarocco (AMCC) def.
Kristal Dule (UTRGV) 6-4, 6-3
3.
Rhea Makesar (UTRGV) def. Yana Mykytyn (AMCC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Kseniya Ramanouskaya (AMCC) def.
Hitakamya Narwal (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-3
5. Josefa Fuenzalida (AMCC) def.
Madeleine Joffe (UTRGV) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
6. Juliette Jalai (AMCC) def.
Mariia Bakhtina (UTRGV) 7-5, 6-2
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