Women’s Tennis Tabbed Fourth in South Central, Will Face St. Mary’s

INDIANAPOLIS – Following a one-year absence, the Western New Mexico University women’s tennis team is returning to postseason play after receiving the fourth seed in the South Central Region and will face top seed and No. 13 St. Mary’s (TX). The winner of the match will advance to the NCAA Championships.

The Lady Mustangs are 12-11 overall and went 7-0 in RMAC play including both regular season and tournament play to secure the automatic bid into the regional field.

The Lady Rattlers are 19-1 overall and have won 18 straight including the Heartland Conference Tournament title. They performed well against RMAC schools this season sweeping MSU Denver, Colorado Mesa and Colorado State-Pueblo. The only loss this season came to Division I Air Force. St. Mary’s has three players with over 20 singles victories led by 23 from Mariana Rong. They have four with over 20 doubles victories led by Jamie Lee Denton and Kaylin Kruseman, both with 28 apiece.

WNMU last made the NCAA regional field in 2012-13 when they faced Tarleton State in the first round and were defeated, 5-0. Seniors Ganna Tiurina (Kiev, Ukraine/M.M. Gromov #227) and Pauline Emin (Viry, France/Lycee Arbez Carme) lead the Lady Mustangs in singles victories with both tallying 14. Junior Claudia Osuna (Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico/Tec Milenio ) has added 13. In doubles, Tiurina/freshman Annica Betz (Celle, Germany/Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria Gymnasium) have a team-high 10 wins. Emin/Osuna have added eight victories.

WNMU will play at St. Mary’s in San Antonio, Texas between Saturday May 2 and Tuesday May 5. Once a date and time have been set, they will be posted on wnmumustangs.com.