KINGSVILLE, Texas – Two of the best teams in the Lone Star Conference are on the docket for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis team and the Javelinas will have the luxury of hosting both contests, first against the No. 21 Midwestern State Mustangs on Friday at 12 p.m. at the Javelina Tennis Courts in Kingsville, Texas, followed by a Saturday afternoon showdown with the No. 45 Dallas Baptist Patriots at 11 a.m.
The Mustangs have reached 15-4 and 3-0 in LSC play thanks in large part to excellent doubles play. Freshman Hannah Yip and sophomore Anda Ghinga have occupied the No. 1 flight for the majority of the season for MSU and are undefeated in 14 matches together, including five victories over tandems from ranked teams. The Mustangs' third flight has almost exclusively belonged to freshman Sydney Williams and sophomore Skylar Minns, who've posted a 14-4 record together. Williams and Minns haven't lost a doubles match since March 5th, a streak of 10-in-a-row.
The Patriots success in doubles has revolved around receiving excellent play from their top two pairings, as they've gone a combined 27-11 in the top two flights so far in 2022. They also own a winning record in four of the five singles flights despite a lineup that has been in flux throughout the year. Through 19 matches, five different players have spent time at No. 1, with just as many playing at least one match in the No. 2 spot. DBU's most consistent player to this point in the season has been senior Grace Gaskins, who owns a 14-3 record and has won three straight matches out of the second flight.
The strongest doubles pairing for TAMUK through 13 matches has been that of sophomore Alessa Maier (Hechingen, Germany) and freshman Manuela Turolo (Cividale del Friuli, Italy). Maier and Turolo have combined to go 7-3 and won six of their last seven together, with the only blemish being a 7-6 loss to Biola on March 18th. One of wins in the recent run of success from Maier and Turolo was a 7-6 triumph against St. Mary's in TAMUK's most recent LSC contest.
On the singles side, Maier and sophomore Milou ter Morsche (Goor, Netherlands) have continued to play some of the best tennis in the LSC. Both players notched straight set wins against UT Permian Basin and St. Mary's and Maier has not dropped a set throughout the entirety of her current six match win streak. Meanwhile, ter Morsche has won five of her last six contests and is just two victories away from matching her win total of 10 from a season ago, which stood as a team-high.
Be sure to check back on Javelinaathletics.com for a recap and results from both matches. To keep up with Javelina tennis throughout the season, follow @JavelinaTennis on Twitter and Instagram, like the Javelina Sports Facebook page, subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
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