SAN ANTONIO - The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis program opened up the fall portion of the 2019-20 schedule on Friday at the St. Mary's quad, with a handful of Javelinas leaving a strong impression at the Annemarie Tennis Center in San Antonio.
The first doubles flight featured a pair of Javelina tandems taking to the court, with senior
Valerie Ruiz (San Antonio, Texas) teaming up with sophomore
Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.) while senior
Victoria Romanovskaia (Simferopol, Crimea, Russia) was attached to newcomer
Franka Sindicic (Zagreb, Croatia).
Ruiz and Donkor fell to Abigail Csengery and Charli Delmonico from St. Mary's in the first round and 8-5, but bounced back with an 8-6 win over Taylor Parkinson and Sophia Kermet from Incarnate Word to even the records. The two will face Mary Eby and Madison Staar from Texas Lutheran on Saturday to wrap up the competition.
Romanovskaia and Sindicic, meanwhile, downed Parking and Kermet in the first round, 8-5, but dropped the second round to the Rattlers' Ashley Penshorn and Marina Vigil in the second round at 8-0. The TAMUK tandem will face Csengery and Delmonico for the second day of the event.
The second doubles flight saw two more Blue and Gold duos leading the way as freshman
Daniela Koleva (Kocani, North Macedonia) and senior
Stephanie Baerman (San Antonio, Texas) represented one team while junior
Laura Montalvo (Cochabamba, Bolivia) and senior
Julia Rauer (Leiselheim, Germany) starred in the other.
Koleva and Baerman stumbled in their first match against Maria Garcia and Alice Thane from StMU, 8-2, but rebounded with an 8-1 decision over Bailey Denton and Jade Sosa from TLU in round two. The two will square off with Gabriella Ioannou and Grace Bell from the hosts to end their showing in the second doubles bracket.
Montalvo and Rauer saw success in their first-round match against Kaitlyn Enloe and Samantha Stafford from TLU with an 8-1 decision but fell 8-5 from Garcia and Thane in the second match. Their third-round opponent will be Denton and Sosa on the final day.
Over in the first singles flight, Romanovskaia and Montalvo donned the Blue and Gold for head coach
Autumn Williams with Romanovskaia downing Parkinson in straight sets at 6-1, 6-3, while Montalvo took Garcia to a third set before ultimately falling at 6-2, 4-6, 10-7.
Romanovskaia will see Vigil on the second day of singles competition, whereas Montalvo will face Parkinson.
Two more Javelinas graced the second singles bracket as Koleva cruised past Staar in the first matchup in straight sets at 6-1, 6-1, while Ruiz bested Delmonico in a back-and-forth battle at 6-4, 7-5. Koleva will face Penshorn in day two of the second singles flight, while Ruiz will see Stafford.
Rauer and Baerman took to the court in the third singles flight, with Baerman moving past Mary Ebby from TLU at 6-2, 6-1, while Rauer fell 6-4, 6-3 to Thane in her matchup. Rauer will tackle Kaitlyn Ehloe on day two of the competition while Baerman faces Csengery.
The fourth, and final, singles flight saw Sindicic and Donkor on the court as Sindicic moved past Denton at 6-2, 6-0, while Donkor fell to Ioannou at 6-2, 7-5. Sindicic will have a chance to avenge her teammates' loss to Ioannou for the second day, while Donkor looks to bounce back against Jesse Behal from Texas Lutheran.
Competition on the second day resumes at 10 a.m. with the third round of doubles matches at the Annemarie Tennis Center.
To keep up-to-date with Javelina tennis, follow the program on Facebook at /JavelinaSports or on Twitter @JavelinaTennis
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