SFA Hits the Road to Face Texas State and UTSA
2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Stephen F. Austin (2-2) at Texas State (2-0)
Friday, Feb. 17 | Noon | San Marcos, Texas | Bobcat Tennis Complex
Stephen F. Austin (2-2) at UTSA (3-1)
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 1:00 p.m. | San Antonio, Texas | UTSA Tennis Center
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Following a break of almost two weeks, the Stephen F. Austin women’s tennis team returns to action by heading out on the road for matches against Texas State and UTSA. The first of two intrastate clashes for the Ladyjacks will start at noon on Friday in San Marcos, Texas, against Texas State before SFA finishes up its weekend with a 1:00 p.m. meeting with UTSA in San Antonio.
“We are more than ready to get back out on the courts and see if the improvements we implemented in practice will translate to success in matches,” said head coach Jon McLaughlin. “Making sure we stay focused through the entire match is of the utmost importance as is maintaining a high level of intensity and that’s something I believe we need to continue working at.
“There is no doubt that we have the talent to complete with anyone, but in order to keep moving toward our goals we have to make sure to have a winner’s mentality each time we step out on the court.”
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
It has been nearly three weeks since the Bobcats have hit the court for a match as they are smack dab in the middle of a three-match swing against Southland Conference opponents. In their most recent action, Texas State secured a 4-3 victory over McNeese State on Jan. 29, when Pippa Carr captured a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 triumph over Sarah Jurakova in the number-two singles flight.
That win over the Cowgirls represented the Bobcats’ first victory against a Southland Conference institution since they defeated Northwestern State 4-2 in Natchitoches, La., on Feb. 20, 2016. One season ago, Texas State constructed a 2-3 mark against Southland foes that helped the Bobcats go 9-13 overall.
Having won both of her one-on-one matches in the number-two slot, Carr is one of four Bobcats who are a perfect 2-0 in singles dual matches in the 2017 campaign. She is joined in the ranks of the unbeaten by Joy Chia Ming Ming (2-0), Ana Perez (2-0) and Yadira Rubio (1-0). So far this season, Texas State has not lost a singles match in the second, fourth or fifth flights and has won four of its five doubles matches.
Once Texas State’s 2016 season was in the books, Perez was one of only two players on the squad who owned an above-.500 record in singles play. She went 10-8 in one-on-one play across the fifth and sixth flights and is currently riding a team-best six-match winning streak in singles play.
Last season as the seventh seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, Texas State upended 10th-seeded Arkansas State 4-1 in the opening round before seeing their season come to an end in a 4-0 setback to second-seeded South Alabama.
SCOUTING UTSA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
All but one of the Roadrunners’ four matches so far in 2017 have been against Southland Conference opponents and UTSA has gone 3-1 to start off its spring season. The only loss suffered by UTSA so far has been to reigning Southland Conference champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi who exited the UTSA Tennis Center with a 4-2 win back on Feb. 8.
Dating back to the beginning of last season, UTSA has gone 6-6 against Southland Conference opponents and their Saturday matchup with the Ladyjacks represents the fifth match of a six-match home stand to begin the Roadrunners’ 2017 schedule.
Back for her senior season is reigning All-C-USA Second Team singles performer Mirian Rosell Canudas. As a junior in 2016, she racked up 10 singles wins and played all 22 of her matches in the number-one singles slot. Her selection as a Second Team singles player in 2016 was the third All-C-USA citation of her career as she earned First Team honors as a sophomore and Second Team honors as a freshman.
Rosell Canudas leads the team with a perfect 4-0 record in singles play so far this season while Kylee Kato is also among the ranks of the unbeaten on UTSA’s roster. Kato has gone 3-0 in singles play through the early stages of 2017 and has teamed with Rosell Canudas to go 4-0 at number-one doubles for the Roadrunners.
UTSA has gone 17-6 in singles matches during 2017 and has posted an impressive 8-1 record in doubles play.
UP NEXT
The Ladyjacks will remain on the road for another pair of non-conference matches next week. Arlington, Texas, will serve as the site of SFA’s next pair of matches on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. SFA takes on UT Arlington at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 24 before engaging in a neutral site battle with New Mexico State at 11:00 a.m. the following day.
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