April 5, 2012
San Antonio – The Lady Rattlers padded the St. Mary’s Tennis Courts for the last time this season in victory as they picked up their fourth straight win with a triumph over Temple College on Wednesday.
After a triumphant three-match, three-victory weekend last week in Abilene Christian, the Rattlers (8-10) kept the trek alive in a 7-2 victory over Temple.
The usual hard-hitters remained so Wednesday with Angelique De Oliveira (Sr., Wattrelos, France) holding Lauren Renner to only one point in each set of her singles competition to win 6-1, 6-1.
Kelly Cooper (Sr., San Antonio) had a 6-3 first-set win over Hannah Watson before shutting her down in the Rattlers’ only closeout set, 6-0, in the second. St. Mary’s only two lost points for the day didn’t come easy for Temple College with Valentine Lambrechts (Jr., Belgium) battling three sets to fall 6-3, 4-6, 10-6, while Denissia Gonzalez (Fr., Houston) went 7-6, 2-1 before the match was retired.
Gonzalez was regrouped for her doubles competition, however, with teammate Cooper. The freshman/senior matchup proved to be victorious as they charged for an 8-2 win. The Rattlers’ top duo of Huong Huynh (Sr., Houston) and De Oliveira went for a tight 8-5 victory and Lambrechts and Erica Carmona (Sr., Converse, Texas) went for an 8-2 match point to close out the 7-2 day.
With nearly a desired .500 win-loss record on the season, the Rattlers have just three matches left in preparation for the Heartland Conference Tournament. Their three-victory weekend started their longest winning streak of the season that has now increased to four after Wednesday’s victory.
In other words, with the conference tournament only two weeks way, it’s perfect timing for the Rattlers to get hot.