WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State is returning to the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship finals for the third consecutive year after defeating Angelo State, 4-1, in the South Central II Preliminary Dual at MSU Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
The Mustangs are one of 16 teams bound for Surprise, Arizona, May 19-23. Midwestern State reached the semifinals in each of the last two years.
Selin Sepken clinched the dual-match victory for the Mustangs with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Margaux Rene at No. 1 singles. Sepken, No. 8 in the ITA rankings and the LSC Women's Singles Player of the Year, improved to 19-2 and won her sixth consecutive match. Rene lost for the third time in her last four matches and fell to 13-9 for the season.
Sepken and
Emilia Gyorgy secured the first point of the dual by winning their match over Sasa Felixova and Vasilis Kupriianova, 6-4. The No. 10-ranked doubles pairing improved their season record to 19-6 with their 10th consecutive win at No. 2 doubles.
Alessia Dolce and
Hattie Berend improved to 14-2 at No. 3 doubles with a 6-3 victory over Danai Amangazhiyeva and Jade Bestagno.
Camila Garcia and
Jasmine Crain were upended at No. 1 doubles by the No. 13-ranked pairing of Benedetta Raggiotti and Margaux Rene, 6-1. Garcia and Crain suffered their second straight defeat and fell to 5-4 at No. 1 doubles with an overall record of 19-6.
Garcia put the second dual-match point on the scoreboard for the Mustangs with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 pasting of Amangazhiyeva at No. 3 singles. The sophomore from Colombia won her 14th consecutive match and improved to 20-2 this season. Amangazhiyeva had a seven-match winning streak snapped and fell to 19-3 for the season.
Dolce, a sophomore from Italy, avenged a loss earlier this season to Raggiotti with a 6-3, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles. Dolce won her 11th straight match and improved to 17-6 this season, winning 13 of 16 matches in the No. 4 slot. Raggiotti lost for only the third time this season and had a three-match winning streak snapped. Dolce has only dropped one set since losing to her compatriot on March 28 in San Angelo, 3-6, 5-7.
Midwestern State improved its overall record to 19-6 and is 9-0 at MSU Tennis Center this season. The Mustangs have a seven-dual winning streak. Angelo State closes its season with a 22-4 record overall, losing four of their last seven duals and falling to 6-3 as the visiting team this season.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
