No. 43 Midwestern State at No. 53 St. Mary's

Friday, April 15 – 10 a.m.
Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex (San Antonio, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 12-5

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Midwestern State and St. Mary's face off in MSU's last regular season away match. The 43rd-ranked Mustangs and 53rd-ranked Rattlers battle at Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex. The Lone Star Conference match kicks off at 10 a.m. on Friday.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

The 43rd-ranked Mustangs control an 18-6 record after falling to No. 6 Cameron on Tuesday. MSU is 5-2 in LSC play and has a 5-3 record when playing on the road. Midwestern State earned a spot in the ITA's National Team Rankings at No. 43.

Anda Ghinga holds the 34th spot in the ITA National Singles Rankings. The sophomore is 14-9 at line one, dropping her last four matches. She earned her second career Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors on March 9. The Arad, Romania, native is 2-4 against ranked opponents this year. Ghinga and Hannah Yip sit at 24th in the ITA National Doubles Rankings. The duo had their first loss of the season to No. 18 Anastasia Uspenskaia and Magda Wawrowska of Cameron. They still hold 18 wins at line one.

Emilija Visic holds 16 wins this year and just two losses. She earned her first LSC Player of the Week honor after winning ten matches from March 9 to 16. The Phoenix, Ariz., product is 5-1 in LSC play. Visic and Casie Curry hold the 45th spot in the ITA National Rankings. The pair has a 16-2 record, winning their last five matches. They have six Lone Star Conference wins at line two.

Curry has 17 singles wins this season. The junior is 10-2 at line four for the Mustangs. She won her last three matches; stepping up to play at line two. Curry recently surpassed 100 career wins, which puts her 13th in the MSU program records.

Skylar Minns holds a 16-6 record. The sophomore played the last seven matches a line six where she is 12-6. She won her last three matches. Minns and Sydney Williams are 15-7 at doubles line three this season. The duo dropped their last three matches.

AT THE HELM

Scott Linn is in his 12th season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's and women's tennis programs. He guided the Mustangs to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances since he arrived in Wichita Falls in 2010. The Mustangs have thrived under Linn's leadership as he revived the program to the highest level. Linn has directed the women's program to a 201-87 (.698) record in his eleven seasons on campus. This includes nine NCAA Division II postseason appearances. Linn helped the team reach the round of 16 in 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019. The Mustangs also made trips to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017 under his direction.

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS

St. Mary's is 13-3 for the spring season with a 5-1 Lone Star Conference record. The Rattlers are 8-1 when playing at home with their only loss going against No. 5 Cameron on April 1. StMU won back-to-back matches last week against UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico.

Ashley Penshorn leads the Rattlers at line one with a 9-3 record. The senior is No. 28 in the ITA's national rankings. She won her last two matches. She and Bailey Godwin are 6-5 at doubles line two.

Maria Garcia is No. 34 in the ITA listings and owns a 4-3 record for the 2022 season. The graduate student is 0-2 versus nationally-ranked opponents.

Marina Vigil is 3-3 at line two for the Rattlers. The fifth year is undefeated at line three with five wins. She and Gabi Ioannou own an 8-3 record at doubles line three. Ioannou is 4-2 at line six with back-to-back wins.

Alice Thane is 10-5 for the season with a 3-2 record at line three. She and Elena Munoz are 3-4 at doubles line one. Munoz has a 3-2 record at line five with three consecutive wins.

ABOUT THE SERIES

In the last match-up, the Rattlers upset the Mustangs in the 2021 regional semifinal. Midwestern State leads the series at a 12-5 record over St. Mary's. MSU took the first conference meeting 4-3 on April 23, 2021. Since 2001, the Mustangs have two losses in San Antonio, Texas. These occurred in 2015 and 2018.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State concludes the regular season on Saturday, April 23. The Mustangs host Dallas Baptist in the Lone Star Conference season finale at MSU Tennis Center. MSU and DBU kick off at 2 p.m.