KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis team has reached the final week of the 2022 regular season and they're afforded the luxury of spending that week at home, where they'll be entertaining the No. 25 Angelo State Rambelles on Thursday at 11 a.m., followed by a Sunday match against the Western New Mexico Mustangs at 10 a.m., with both matches scheduled to be held at the Javelina Tennis Courts in Kingsville, Texas.
Included in this final homestand will be TAMUK's Senior Day ceremony for Maya Donkor (McLean, Va.), who is in her fourth season with the program. During her time in Kingsville, Donkor has been part of 22 wins in doubles play and she's spent the majority of the last two seasons occupying the No. 1 spot in singles, collecting 17 individual victories over her Blue and Gold career. In 2021, Donkor's efforts helped the Javelinas reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Javelinas took a major step toward returning to the national postseason in their most recent match, which ended in a 4-3 TAMUK win over UT Tyler on Saturday. That triumph gives the Javelinas multiple wins over teams ranked in the regional poll, which was released on April 15thas they've defeated the fifth-ranked UTT Patriots and the sixth-ranked DBU Patriots. The Javs will have a chance to take down a third regionally ranked opponent on Thursday when they square off with ASU.
The Rambelles have pushed their way up to No. 25 in the national rankings by compiling a 14-6 record and they're 6-1 in the Lone Star Conference, placing them only a half-game behind a pair of teams locked in a tie for the top spot.
Few players in the LSC have been tougher to beat than junior Dianela Rodriguez, who started the spring with eight straight wins and owns a team-best 15-3 record. Rodriguez also owns a perfect 7-0 mark against conference opponents one year after going 6-0 in LSC matches. Her efforts have allowed her to rise all the way to No. 11 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's singles rankings.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Rambells are the WNMU Mustangs, who are searching for their first LSC win of the season. The Mustangs are 6-12 overall in 2022 are they're attempting to break an 11-match losing streak in LSC competition. Their last win over a conference opponent came on April 10th, 2021 against UT Permian Basin.
The best singles players for WNMU so far this season have been freshmen Livia Leite and Caini Wang, both of whom are tied for a team-high with eight victories. Livia started the season in top form, winning seven of her first eight contests, while Leite has gone 3-1 in her last four matches.
Be sure to visit Javelinaathletics.com for results from both matches, as well as a recap of all action on each day. 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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