THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Junior Juliette Mary won the final match standing in a three-set thriller to send No. 14-ranked Midwestern State to the Round of 16 after a 4-3 win over 31^st-ranked St. Mary's. The Mustangs (21-6) secured their fifth trip in the last six seasons to the NCAA Championship site.
 
Mary punched MSU's ticket to Altamonte Springs, Fla., with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win against Hannah Petersen at the No. 4 flight. With all eyes upon her in the third set, the Perpignan, France native raced out to a 5-0 lead in the final frame before closing out the decisive point.
 
The Maroon and Gold roared out to a 3-0 lead, capturing all the momentum with a dominant doubles performance and strong singles play.
 
Junior Ashley Ramirez became the 13th member of the 100-Win club in program history. The No. 10-ranked pair of Bianca Duff and Ramirez trounced Ally Maciel and Isabelle Berman, 6-1, at the top flight for Ramirez's milestone win and the duo's 12th in the last 13 matches.
 
The tandem of Greta Lazzarotto and Casie Curry followed with a 6-2 rout of Alex Corder and Petersen at the No. 2 flight to lock up the point. The duo moved to 11-1 at the No. 2 flight and gave MSU the 1-0 advantage for the 12th time in the last 13 matches.
 
The Mustangs built first set advantages on four of the first six singles courts and won the first two matches to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Curry coasted to her 12th-straight win, improving to 14-0 at the No. 6 flight. The No. 62-ranked player in the Oracle/ITA singles poll bounced Alice Thane, 6-2, 6-2, to climb to 19-1 on the year.
 
Junior Lea Cizeron topped Rani Goodland, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 3 line to put all the pressure on the Rattlers. In what was the lone rematch from the Feb. 28 meeting, the Saint Etienne, France, native again got the better of Goodland.
 
Backed into a corner, St. Mary's fought back to draw even at 3-all.
 
Corder defeated 66th-ranked Lazzarotto, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 2 and Ramirez dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Ashley Penshorn to trim the MSU lead to 3-2. Duff got out to a strong start against 24th-ranked Maciel but was unable to close the match, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, as St. Mary's pulled even.
 
Just as Duff finished, Mary was unable to force a second-set tiebreaker to send the winner-take-all match to a decisive third set.
 
With all eyes on her for the final 30 minutes, Mary was near perfect.
 
She converted shot after shot, stretching a 1-0 lead to 3-0 and 3-0 cushion to 5-0 before finishing off the win, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.


 
BOX SCORE
#14 Midwestern State (21-6) def. #31 St. Mary's (14-8)
NCAA DII Round of 32
Monday, May 13, 2019 | 2 p.m.
Wichita Falls, Texas
MSU Tennis Center
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #10 Ashley Ramirez/Bianca Duff (MSU) def. Ally Maciel/Isabelle Bergman (StMU) 6-1
No. 2 – Greta Lazzarotto/Casie Curry (MSU) def. Alex Corder/Hannah Petersen (StMU) 6-2
No. 3 – Lea Cizeron/Taylor Gray (MSU) vs. Rani Goodland/Ashley Penshorn (StMU) 4-4
 
Singles
No. 1 – #24 Ally Maciel (StMU) def. Bianca Duff (MSU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 – Alex Corder (StMU) def. #66 Greta Lazzarotto (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 – Lea Cizeron (MSU) def. Rani Goodland (StMU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 – Juliette Mary (MSU) def. Hannah Petersen (StMU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
No. 5 – Ashley Penshorn (StMU) def. Ashley Ramirez (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 – #62 Casie Curry (MSU) def. Alice Thane (STMU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (6, 3, 2, 5, 1, 4)

UP NEXT
MSU advances to the NCAA DII Championships from May 22-25 at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center in Altamonte Springs, Fla.