No. 25 Midwestern State at No. 20 St. Mary's

Friday, May 6 – 2 p.m.
Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex (San Antonio, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 13-1

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In its ninth consecutive postseason berth, Midwestern State faces St. Mary's in the NCAA Round of 32 on Friday, May 6. The Rattlers host the Mustangs on at Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex at 2 p.m.
 
The winner moves on to the Round of 16 played at the 2022 NCAA Division II Championship site at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center from May 18-23 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

The 25th-ranked Mustangs finished the regular season with a 19-7 record. The team also went 6-3 in Lone Star Conference matches. Midwestern State made an early exit from the LSC tournament after dropping to Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first round. The Mustangs, who are the fourth seed in the region, make their 21st overall tournament appearance. MSU advanced to the nationals site in six of its last eight postseason appearances
 
Anda Ghinga is 15-11 at line one, going 4-6 in the last ten contests. The sophomore earned her second career Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors on March 9. The Arad, Romania, native is 2-5 against ranked opponents this year. Ghinga and Hannah Yip sit at 26th in the ITA National Doubles Rankings. The duo holds 18 wins at line one. They won back-to-back matches at No. 2 doubles to earn a 20-2 tally in all doubles contests.
 
Emilija Visic has 19 wins this year and just two losses. The sophomore won her last three contests. She earned her first LSC Player of the Week honor after winning ten battles from March 9 to 16. The Phoenix, Ariz., product and Casie Curry hold the 32nd spot in the ITA National Rankings. The pair controls an 18-3 record, playing the last two matches at No. 1 doubles.
 
Curry has 18 singles wins this season. The junior is 10-2 at line four for the Mustangs. She stepped up to play at line two in the last six contests. The Wichita Falls native is 4-2 at No. 2. Curry recently surpassed 100 career wins, which puts her 13th in the MSU program records. She needs one more win at singles or doubles to tie Kristen Bixby with 109 combined wins.
 
Skylar Minns holds an 18-7 record. At line six, the sophomore has a 12-6 tally and has a 4-1 record at line five. The New Braunfels, Texas, product secured the final point in the team's loss to TAMUK. She and Sydney Williams are 16-9 at doubles line three this season. The duo is 4-5 in the last ten contests.
 
Ethne Dowling and Kyndall Quiroz play at line three and six for the Mustangs. Dowling has a 7-7 record at line three while Quiroz is 1-2 at No. 6. Dowling, a junior from Wrexham, United Kingdom, has a 10-10 tally in all singles play. Quiroz, a sophomore from San Antonio, is 4-5 for the season.

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 203-89 (.695) 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 (20-3) rolled to the LSC Postseason Tournament title with wins over Dallas Baptist, UT Tyler and Cameron last weekend at the Arlington Tennis Center. The Rattlers are looking for their second straight nationals appearance after advancing to the national quarterfinal round in 2021. The team holds the 20th spot in the most recent ITA National Team Rankings.

Ashley Penshorn leads the Rattlers at line one with a 15-4 record. The senior is No. 40 in the ITA's national rankings. She dropped her battle against Cameron's Vasilisa Polunova in the LSC championship match. Penshorn is 3-3 versus nationally-ranked opposition, including a straight-set win over Ghinga. She and Alice Thane are 7-1 at doubles line two, winning their last five matches.
 
Thane holds a 17-5 tally for the season, taking victories in her last seven contests. The senior won her line six matches in all three conference tournament matches. Thane is 4-0 at line six.
 
Maria Garcia is No. 42 in the ITA listings and owns an 8-3 record for the 2022 season. The graduate student claimed wins in her last five competitions, going 5-1 at line three. She is 0-2 versus nationally-ranked opponents. Garcia beat Dowling at line three in the last meeting between the Rattlers and the Mustangs.
 
Marina Vigil is 3-4 at line four for the Rattlers. The fifth year is undefeated at line three with six wins. She and Gabi Ioannou own a 12-3 record at doubles line three. The duo won the last five competitions. Ioannou is 3-0 at line five. The junior won six consecutive matches at line five and six.
 
Angela Vargas's three-set win over No. 58 Anastasia Uspenskaia (Cameron) clinched the team's title victory in the LSC tournament. The junior has an 8-1 tally at line two. She secured victories in her last seven contests. Vargas and Bailey Godwin have five wins at No. 1 doubles.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The Rattlers upset the Mustangs in the 2021 regional semifinal with a 4-1 win. Midwestern State leads the series at a 12-6 record over St. Mary's. MSU took the first conference meeting 4-3 on April 23, 2021. The Rattlers won the second meeting 6-1 on April 15 of this year. Since 2001, the Mustangs have three losses in San Antonio, Texas. These occurred in 2015, 2018 and 2022.

UP NEXT

The winner moves on to the Round of 16 played at the 2022 NCAA Division II Championship site at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center from May 18-23 in Altamonte Springs, Fla. They will face the winner of Cameron and Angelo State.