EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis program took down its second cross-division foe of the 2020 dual season on Saturday at the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center with a 5-2 final over UTRGV to close out the weekend of play.

"It was a great team win," said head coach Autumn Wollenzien. "After the doubles, we bounced back and focused well in singles. They knew what needed to be done and stuck to the game plan."

The Javelinas (2-1) took one of the three doubles matches from the Vaqueros (0-9) and added wins in five of the six singles pairings en route to the win.

Junior Laura Montalvo (Cochabamba, Bolivia) and senior Stephanie Baerman (San Antonio, Texas) were the pair responsible for avoiding the sweep in doubles play. They took down Alicia Thal and Ana Platisa in the second tandem at 6-2 despite UTRGV holding a 1-0 edge going into the singles portion of the match.

Montalvo maintained her momentum in the second flight against Thal in singles play and came away with a straight-set win over her foe at 6-2, 6-3 to tie the match at 1-1. Senior Valerie Ruiz (San Antonio, Texas) followed suit in the third pairing with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Valeria Montero to put the visitors up 2-1.

The hosts knotted the match back at 2-2 in the fifth singles flight with Platisa slipping past freshman Franka Sindicic (Zagreb, Croatia) at 7-6, 6-1. Baerman put the Javelinas back on track in the sixth pairing as she took a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Kristyna Mamicova for a 3-2 lead.

Senior Victoria Romanovskaia (Simferopol, Crimea, Russia) put TAMUK over the bump in her top-flight matchup against Katarina Sasaroga as she clinched the win at 6-3, 7-6 for the Blue and Gold. Sophomore Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.) added the finishing touch in the third matchup against Sandra Putz as she fought back from a 7-6 loss in the first set with a 6-2 win in the second to force the decisive third.

She came away with win in the final set as she moved past Putz at 6-3 to cement the final score at 5-2.

The Javelinas have a week before their next match as they travel to Denver on February 29 to take on MSU Denver in a regional matchup starting at 2 p.m. CT.

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

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