UTSA's senior class went out on a winning note on Sunday. |
SAN ANTONIO ? On a Sunday morning that began by recognizing the contributions of three seniors and one junior, the UTSA women’s tennis team served up a 7-0 Southland Conference victory against Stephen F. Austin at the UTSA Tennis Center.
Seniors Karen Scida, Nathalie Wallin, and Monika Drabkova andnon-returning junior Holly Phillips all were recognized before thematch for their hard work and dedication to the program the last four years.
Once the contest started, the Roadrunners (13-6, 7-2 SLC) took control from the beginning.
UTSA jumped ahead by securing the doubles point with victories at the bottom two spots.
At No. 2, senior Monika Drabkova and sophomore Caroline Dedering knocked out Gabriela Gadeva and Mary Harrison, 8-3. Meanwhile, senior Nathalie Wallin and junior Holly Phillips earned the team point when they defeated Jamie Williams and Andreea Enica by the same score at No. 3 and the triumph extended their winning streak to 10 matches.
Freshman Micaela Silva was the first off the court in singles, as she notched a 6-3, 6-3, win over Jamie Williams at No. 6. Drabkova wrapped up her No. 4 match shortly thereafter, knocking out Sanjana Kapur, 6-1, 6-0, which pushed the advantage to three. Dedering clinched the match for UTSA with her 7-5, 6-2 victory at No. 5 against Enica, 7-5, 6-2. A few minutes later, Phillips took her second-set tiebreak at No. 3, 7-2, after winning the first set 6-3, and that pushed her singles win streak to 15.
Scida and Wallin were the other Roadrunners to post wins. Scida was victorious in her No. 1 matchup with Shazkho, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6). Meanwhile, Wallin picked up the second set of her No. 2 contest, 6-2, after dropping the first, 6-7 (5-7) and, with the match already in hand, the two combantants played a 10-point tiebreak to decide the winner and Wallin won 10-8 to give UTSA its 10th sweep of the season.
“It’s always good to come out with a win at home,” Scida said. “Every match we play is really important though and this wasn’t any less important than any other. It’s been a blast playing here and, from my freshman year to now, everyyear has been amazing. I’ve learned so much about tennis these four years. The competition was better than what I was used to playing and being able to say I am a Roadrunner is just amazing.”
UTSA is back in action next weekend with road matches at Texas State (7-5, 4-3 SLC) and first-place UT Arlington (9-7, 7-0 SLC).