SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word tennis teams split their home stand against Tyler Junior College on Saturday. The women's team won 4-3, while the men's team lost 6-1 at the Mabry Tennis Center.
Due to the rescheduling of the game because of predicted bad weather, the match got under way a day earlier and at the later time of 3 p.m.
For the UIW men's team (5-10, 0-1), a host of injuries plaguing the starting line-up meant that the Apaches (6-2) came out strong and continued to dominate throughout the afternoon.
The Cardinals dropped the early doubles point losing all three games and went on to win only one singles match. For
Tucker Brown (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS), a solid performance at the #3 singles gave UIW their only point of the day after he defeated Ciro Lampass 6-4, 6-4.
Brody Rodriguez (Austin/Cedar Park HS) came close to earning a second point for the Cardinals after he battled against John King at the #5 position to take the first set 6-3, but he dropped the final two sets.
The UIW women's team (2-11, 0-1) started the afternoon in a similar fashion against the Apaches (6-3) and dropped the doubles point by losing two out of three matches.
Matea Zemunik (Jesenice, Croatia/Marko Marulic) and
Antea Dedic (Split, Croatia/Opca Gimnazija) got an 8-2 win over Autria Compton and Adriana Garrett, but it was not enough to earn the point.
In the singles competition, the Cardinals waited until the last minute to really turn things around, but came out on top after playing some great tennis. Despite going 3-0 down after losing matched at the #2 and #4 position, wins in the final four matches of the day tipped the balance in favor of UIW.
Dedic brought the Cardinals back into the competition after defeating Adriana Garrett 6-4, 6-3 at the #5 position. From there, wins from
Rachel Sadiq (Frisco/Frisco HS) at the #1 spot and
Sarah Savedra (El Paso/El Paso HS) at the #3 spot were needed to give the Cardinals a fighting chance.
Sadiq won an intense match against Joanna Savva resulting in a third set decision that could have gone either way. By being strong on her returns and forcing Savva to commit errors on the backline, Sadiq fought back from being two games down in the final set to win the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
Savedra was also victorious in a three set battle against Paige Murdock.
Maria Batchinsky wrapped the game up for the Cardinals beating Autria Compton in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 at #6 singles.
Women's head coach
Devin Wilke said, "Today was exactly what our team needed. We battled through a lot of adversity and against a tough team, and were able to grind out four great matches. Rachel being down 5-2 in the third, saving a match point, Sarah staying tough to win a three-setter, and Maria pulling out the win just as the rain started to come down. Being down after doubles, the girls knew their backs were against the wall, but they came out and did everything they had to and met the challenge. It's great to have this team win as we continue into our conference matches."
The men's team is back in action on Tuesday when they host Liberty University at the Mabry Tennis Center at 10 a.m. After a short rest, the women continue their Southland Conference schedule by hosting Northwestern State at the Mabry Tennis Center on Saturday at 10 a.m.
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