Women’s Tennis Upsets #40 Cal Tech
First victory over nationally ranked opponent in D3 program history
SAN ANTONIO, Tex. - The Austin College Women's Tennis Team made history on Thursday, March 22nd on the campus of Trinity University. The Kangaroos defeated the California Institute of Technology Beavers, the current #40 team in the nation in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
The 'Roos started strong in doubles. Katie Seibert and Anna Sergiovanni grabbed an early 4–0 lead at Line 3 doubles, but their Beaver counterparts made excellent adjustments and won 8 out of the last 9 games. Lines 1 had very little trouble with Grace Ortiz and Melody Duong tying the team score with an 8-3 victory.
Diana Carvajalino and Georgia Moore snagged the 1-point advantage for the 'Roos going into singles competition, closing out an 8-6 victory at Line 1.
AC fell behind a set at Lines 1, 4, 5, & 6, but was able to split sets at Lines 4 and 6 with Ortiz and Moore. Ortiz fell 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) while Moore emerged victorious behind a strong 5-0 start in her super-tiebreaker 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8).
Meanwhile, Carvajalino and Sergiovanni made quick work of their first sets, but were fighting hard to regain and keep leads respectively. Carvajalino tied the team score at 4-4 when she came from behind 3-4 in the second set to finish 6-3, 7-5. The match would come down to Sergiovanni at Line 3.
Up 6-2, 5-2, her opponent made a valiant comeback, levelling the second set at 5-5. But Sergiovanni's mental toughness prevailed as she broke her opponent's serve at 5-5, and landed two first serves to win the match for the Kangaroos.
This win represents the first victory on record over a nationally ranked opponent for the Women's Tennis Team in program history. Austin College returns to the courts on Friday, 3/23 against #18 Trinity University. The match is set to begin at 4:00PM.