KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis program fell in its Lone Star Conference opening match on Wednesday at the Javelina Tennis Courts to St. Mary's by a score of 6-1.

Freshman Milou ter Morsche (Goor, Netherlands) was the lone member to secure a team point for the Javelinas (3-5, 0-1 LSC) as the Rattlers (11-3, 3-0 LSC) took two of three in doubles play before coming away with five of the six singles matchups.

The freshmen tandem of Alessa Maier (Hechingen, Germany) and Raina Zaffar (Guwahati, India) won out in the second doubles flight over Ashley Penshorn and Gabi Ioannou. The duo went to super-tiebreaker and the Javelina pair clinched the matchup at 8-6 over the Rattler squad for a 7-6 final.

Marina Vigil and Abigail Csengery took the third pairing over ter Morsche and freshman Jana Knaab (Stuttgart, Germany), 6-3, while Maria Garcia and Elena Munoz won out in the top matchup at 7-5 over junior Laura Montalvo (Cochabamba, Bolivia) and sophomore Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.).

Over in singles play, ter Morsche was the last to finish in singles play as she was locked in a battle with Munoz in the fifth flight. The Javelina took the first set, 7-5, before the Rattler came back for the 8-6 super-tiebreaker win in the second set for a 7-6 final, while ter Morsche clinched the decisive set at 10-8.

Penshorn claimed the first point of singles play in the top flight over Donkor in consecutive sets, 6-2 and 6-1. Garcia added identical scores in the second matchup over Maier, 6-3 and 6-3, for the second point.

Freshman Noemi Sante (Düsseldorf, Germany) saw her first action of the season in the sixth matchup against Csengery but ultimately fell in consecutive sets, 6-2 and 7-5. Zaffar was the fourth to finish in the fourth flight as she was downed by Ioannou in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-3.

The final matchup to finish ahead of ter Morsche was the third pairing between Montalvo and Vigil. Montalvo grabbed the first set at 6-3 ahead of Vigil's decision in the second set at 6-2. The Rattler won out in the end, unfortunately, with a final score of 6-3.

The Javelinas are back in action on the road later this week as they face Angelo State in a rescheduled match on Saturday, April 3, in San Angelo, Texas.

Get the Official Javelina Athletics Mobile App presented by Whataburger today! Download on the App Store or Get It on Google Play to keep up with all the news, scores, and highlights of your favorite Javelinas!

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

######