Box Score KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 31 Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis program fell just short of the upset bid against Division I foe UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday at the Javelina Tennis Courts with a 4-3 decision favoring the visitors to bring the dual season to a close.

The Javelinas (11-7) dropped the doubles point to the Vaqueros (7-11), claimed two singles pairings in straight sets and sent another two to a third set, but couldn't find the winning combination en route to the decision.

TAMUK put up a fight in doubles play with the tandem of junior Valerie Ruiz (San Antonio, Texas) and freshman Loren Tristan (Corpus Christi, Texas) just missing out on the matchup against Katarina Sasaroga and Sandra Putz at 7-5.

Senior Phonephathep Philavong (Vientiane, Laos) and junior Victoria Romanovskaia (Simferopol, Crimea, Russia) nearly claimed their matchup against Doris Aleksovska and Michelle Walker, but the UTRGV duo held on at 6-4 in what became the deciding match for the doubles point.

In singles play, redshirt senior Lisa Carvajal (McAllen, Texas) cruised through the second pairing with Marine Darzyan in straight sets at 6-0, 6-1, while Romanovskaia added a straight-set win over Aleksovska in the fourth flight at 6-3, 6-1, to keep the Blue and Gold close behind at 3-2.

The Vaqueros claimed the decision, however, after Nethmi Waduge dropped the first set in the fifth flight to Ruiz at 6-1 and came back for the final two sets at 6-2, 6-2 to put the visitors over the top.

Junior Julia Rauer (Leiselheim, Germany) mirrored a similar result in the sixth pairing against Putz with the Vaquero taking set one at 6-4 before the Javelina grabbed the final two at 6-0, 6-4.

Prior to the match, the Blue and Gold honored the three who were playing in their final home match of their careers, as Carvajal, Philavong and Rauer all graced the Javelina Tennis Courts one last time.

The Javelinas will have the coming week off and will await their seeding for the Lone Star Conference Championships set for May 2-4, at the Waco Regional Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.

To keep up-to-date with Javelina tennis, follow the program on Facebook at /JavelinaSports or on Twitter @JavelinaTennis

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