ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis program wrapped up the first day of action at the 2019 ITA South Central Regional on Thursday hosted by Lone Star Conference foe DBU. A pair of Javelinas made headway in the A Singles draw of the regional as seniors Valerie Ruiz (San Antonio, Texas) and Julia Rauer (Leiselheim, Germany) advanced to the second day of competition in the bracket.

Ruiz began her run with a convincing straight-set win over MSU Denver's Helena Steenberg, 6-0 and 6-1, and followed up with an impressive performance over eight-seeded Lea Cizeron from Midwestern State with a near-identical performance leading into a straight-set win with scores of 6-0 and 6-3.

Ruiz's second-day opponent will be 14th-seeded Ashley Penshorn from St. Mary's starting at 8 a.m.

Rauer, meanwhile, went straight to work and downed 10th-seeded Maria Delgadillo from Angelo State in consecutive sets, 6-4 and 6-1, and carried the momentum into her matchup against UT Tyler's Dynada Patil for another two-set win with scores of 6-1 and 6-4.

Rauer will square off with fourth-seeded Kate Malazonia from St. Edward's on day two starting at 8 a.m.

Other Javelinas in the A Singles bracket included senior Victoria Romanovskaia (Simferopol, Crimea, Russia) and junior Laura Montalvo (Cochabamba, Bolivia). Romanovskaia got the better of Milena Achlamov from UAFS in two sets, 6-4 and 6-2, but fell to 12th-seeded Gaini Ibresheva from UTT in straight sets, 6-2 and 7-5.

Montalvo, meanwhile, took down StMU's Gabriella Ioannou in consecutive sets, 6-2 and 6-2, but couldn't overcome the Rambelles' Ena Ovcina, who was seeded seventh in the bracket. Ovcina grabbed the first set, 6-2, before Montalvo forced the decisive set with a 6-4 score in the second, but Ovcina ended on top with a 6-4 final in the third.

The final Javelina in the A Singles draw was newcomer Franka Sindicic (Zagreb, Croatia), who dropped her first match to Tarleton's Nathalie Ulander, 6-3 and 6-2, but rebounded in the consolation bracket with a straight-set win over CSU-Pueblo's Emily Sproston, 6-1 and 6-0.

Sindicic will take on the Rattlers' Charli Delmonico on day two at 8 a.m.

The B Singles draw had three members of the Blue and Gold grace the bracket, starting with sophomore Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.) providing an impressive showing with a pair of wins. She bested DBU's Genie Hernandez, 6-1 and 6-0, and needed three sets to defeat Petra Csizmadia from UAFS.

Donkor dropped the first set, 6-3, bounced back with a 6-1 showing in the second and clinched the third at 10-3. Her second-day opponent will be Anna Schneeman from ASU at 8 a.m.

Senior Stephanie Baerman (San Antonio, Texas) saw action in the same bracket and dropped her first match to Alice Thane from StMU, 6-4 and 7-6, but battled back in the consolation bracket with a straight-set win over ASU's Melanie Dreux, 6-4 and 6-1. She will face Karin Comegys from DBU on day two at 9:30 a.m.

Newcomer Daniela Koleva (Kocani, North Macedonia) was the final Javelina in the bracket and also fell in the first match to DBU's Leslie Omeire in three sets. Omeire took the first set, 7-5, but Koleva battled back in the second, 6-1, but it was Omeire who won out in the third, 10-5.

Like her teammate, Koleva rebounded in the consolation bracket as she defeated Andrea Ramic from Angelo State in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1, and will see UTT's Chloe Dix on the second day of the regional at 9:30 a.m.

The doubles portion of the regional saw three TAMUK tandems grace the A Draw, while one other took on competition in the B Draw.

In the A Doubles draw, Ruiz and Donkor, seeded fourth, took down SEU's Loli Perim and Lara Schmid, 8-5, but dropped their second match to StMU's Delmonico and Abigail Csengery in a hard-fought loss, 9-7.

The duo of Baerman and Montalvo also saw success in their first match against UTPB's Maria Briones and Melissa Ariza, 8-2, but fell in their second match to another Rattler duo in sixth-seeded Penshorn and Mariana Vigil, 8-6. Romanovskaia and Sindicic were the final pairing for the Javelinas in the bracket as the two bested Alex Lopez and Melany Opolz from Cameron, 8-6, but could not reach the second round as second-seeded Emi Visic and Ashley Ramirez from MSU Texas took the match, 8-3.

The B Doubles bracket featured Rauer and Koleva as the lone Blue and Gold tandem and the two took advantage of their first match against Patil and Marijana Jovanovic from UTT for an 8-6 win and will continue their run in the second day against MSU Denver's Kayla Myburg and Gala Castello starting Friday at 3 p.m.

The updated bracket of the regional can be found at the following link: 2019 ITA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL

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

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