KINGSVILLE, Texas – Undeterred by an early deficit in a match that came down to the final set in the final flight, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis team fought their way to a 4-3 victory over the UT Tyler Patriots on Saturday in Lone Start Conference action at the Javelina Tennis Courts in Kingsville, Texas.

This victory pushes the Javelinas above the .500 mark in the LSC at 4-3 and they are 9-9 overall. UTT is 4-4 in conference and 10-9 overall.

Sophomores Noemi Sante (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Milou ter Morsche (Goor, Netherlands) teamed up to take the third flight in doubles, 6-1, but the Patriots earned the early lead by taking the No. 2 match, 6-2, followed by a 7-6 squeaker in the top flight.

The Javelinas were unfazed by this set back and sophomore Alessa Maier (Hechingen, Germany) got the Blue and Gold on the board by notching a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the No. 2 flight to start singles play. The No. 2 match went to the Patriots, but ter Morsche's efforts in the fifth match yielded a 6-3, 6-3 triumph and freshman Manuela Turolo (Cividale del Friuli, Italy) put TAMUK ahead, collecting a 6-1, 7-6 decision at No. 6.

After the No. 4 contest went to the visitors, the match came down to a duel between the Javs' junior Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.) and UTT's Leony Deutschmann, owner of a team-high 12 victories. The opening frame went to Donkor, but Deutschmann rebounded to force a decisive third set, where Donkor regained control and sealed her team's victory, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.

TAMUK's next match is scheduled for Thursday, when they'll host Angelo State at 11 a.m. 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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