ARLINGTON, Texas – Midwestern State won its sixth Lone Star Conference Women's Tennis Championship title on Saturday with a dramatic 4-2 victory over UT Tyler at Arlington Tennis Center.
Alessia Dolce clinched the first tournament championship for Midwestern State since 2019 with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Carla Rodier at No. 4 singles. Dolce had an 18-set winning streak snapped but extended her match winning streak to 10 and improved to 16-6 for the season with a 12-3 record at the No. 4 position.
Dolce and
Hattie Berend secured the all-important doubles point with a 7-6 (6) win over Rodier and Zhang. It took 70 minutes to win the set, but the duo earned their fourth-straight win and improved to 13-2 at No. 3 doubles.
The Mustangs avenged a 4-3 loss to the Patriots during the regular season, when UT Tyler won the doubles point. Midwestern State has taken the doubles point in 20 of 24 duals this season.
Selin Sepken and
Emilia Gyorgy won their ninth consecutive match at No. 2 doubles and improved to 18-6 for the season with a resounding 6-1 victory over Maria Antonio Ortega and Paula Castellanos.
Armed with a 1-0 lead, Gyorgy defeated Natalia Gorzny at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-3, for her fourth consecutive win without dropping a set. The freshman from Hungary has won 15 of her last 17 singles matches and is 17-6 in singles this spring.
Gyorgy, who clinched the 4-0 win over Cameron in the semifinals, was named the LSC Women's Tennis Championship Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Dolce, Sepken and
Camila Garcia.
Garcia put the Mustangs in position to win the dual by defeating Ortega at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4. The sophomore from Colombia won her 13th consecutive match and improved to 18-6 for the season. More importantly, she gave Midwestern State a 3-2 lead over the Patriots.
Sepken, ranked No. 8 by the ITA and the Lone Star Conference Singles Player of the Year, was engaged in a three-set battle with No.-9 ranked Yona Bancarel when Dolce clinched the championship for Midwestern State. The fifth-year senior from Turkey has a five-match winning streak and is 18-2 this spring. She was leading Bancarel 3-6, 6-1, 3-2 when the match was abandoned. Bancarel won the regular season confrontation in Tyler, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The Patriots earned their two points with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
Paula Castellanos defeated
Jasmine Crain at No. 5 singles, 6-3, 6-4, and Claudia Di Leonardo was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Berend at No. 6 singles.
Crain had a four-match winning streak snapped and fell to 12-10 for the season with a 9-5 record at No. 5 singles. Berend is 8-7 at No. 6 singles for the Mustangs.
Midwestern State awaits the unveiling of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship bracket on Monday night at 7 p.m. The Mustangs have a good chance of hosting a preliminary round when the tournament begins Friday May 8. There will be 16 teams advancing to the National Tournament, which is set for Thursday, May 23 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
