CU Sports
Kenton Means, Sports Information Director
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The No. 19 ranked Aggie women’s tennis team battled back from a 2-1 hole after doubles and was one win away from a Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship, but ended up losing to No. 14 Midwestern State 5-4 in the final on Saturday.
Cameron trailed 2-1 after doubles play as the Aggies’ only point came at No. 1 where Zhenia Shviadok and Mathilde Thibaudat won 8-4. At No. 2, Sarah Frendo and Sara Petric fell 8-4, while Melany Opolz and Rebeka Velasova lost 8-2 at No. 3.
Petric tied the match up at two to start singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5. Velasova followed suit by winning 6-1, 6-1 in the six spot to give the Black and Gold a 3-2 lead. Shviadok, who is ranked No. 29 in the ITA, also earned a two set victory at No. 1, beating No. 23 Maddy Coffman 6-3, 7-5, pulling CU to within one point of securing the match. However, a pair of losses at three and four pulled MSU even with the Aggies with just the No. 2 match to finish.
The battle between Thibaudat and No. 66 Bianca Duff at No. 2 started out with the Aggie senior winning 7-6 in the first set by taking the tiebreaker 7-4. In the second set, the two players battled to a tiebreak again, but this time Duff came back from a 6-1 deficit to win the additional game 10-8 to take the set 7-6. In set three, Thibaudat tried her best to earn back the momentum but she ended up falling 6-4, giving Duff the match win and Midwestern State the Championship.
Cameron’s women are now 16-7 on the season and this past week, they were ranked No. 3 in the initial NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings with a 13-6 regular season regional record.
They will find out their fate for the regional tournament on Tuesday, April 24, at 8:30 p.m. when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show airs online.