SAN ANTONIO – No. 16 Trinity University Women's Tennis will compete in two final league matches before the conference championships at the end of the month. This Friday (April 21) will be a makeup visit to Georgetown, Texas to face No. 20 Southwestern University before returning home Saturday to round off the end of their regular season schedule against Schreiner University (April 22).
The Tigers (12-4) won their fourth consecutive match on last weekend's road trip, defeating No. 19 Washington University-St. Louis 5-4. Last weekend's win gave Trinity a slight 4-3 edge over WashU in the teams' match history since 2011.
The pairing of junior
Cate Cushing (Colleyville, Texas / Colleyville) and first-year
Trinity Levy (Camarillo, Calif. / Weil Tennis Academy) started out strong, posting the first point of the match with their 8-4 win from line two. The Tigers went on to take a 2-1 lead after doubles play finished with an 8-6 win from sophomore duo
Ruth Hill (Abilene, Texas / Abilene) and
Olivia Kim (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Mountain) in line one.
The Bears gained momentum through the beginning of singles play, taking their first lead at 3-2. Levy went on to score a 6-3,6-3 victory at line three to tie the match once again, but WashU took the lead again with a win at line six.
Facing a 4-3 deficit, Trinity was left with Cushing at line four and Hill at line one still on the court. Cushing battled out a 7-5, 6-4 win to make it 4-4 overall, then Hill got the clincher with a 7-6, 6-4 win to send the Tigers to victory.
SCAC Weekly Honor Roll: A Force to be Reckoned With
Hill earned her fourth SCAC Singles Player of the Week this season – her second in just three weeks – as she earned her fourth consecutive line one victory in a match-clinching matchup against WashU.
Hill and Kim marked their fourth SCAC Doubles Team of the Week honors of the season as well – also their second in just two weeks, and completing the Tigers' fourth full sweep of the weekly awards this season. The duo notched their sixth consecutive win and stand at 12-3 on the year after their top line doubles victory that gave their team the advantage against the Bears.
NCAA III Rankings: New ITA Listings, Kim on the Rise
Trinity was bumped to No. 16 in the latest national rankings by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but still remain as third in the West Region. The next expected rankings are scheduled to be released on April 28, the first day of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
Hill continues to make waves as she jumped five spots from 10
th in the region to 5
th in the latest ITA poll for singles players. Hill and Kim also found themselves higher in the rankings, moving from 4
th to 3
rd in the west for doubles teams.
In the doubles rankings, Kim and Levy both dropped a single spot to 21
st and 22
nd respectively. The duo of Levy and Cushing remain strong as the 8
th ranked doubles team in the West.
Pirates Back on Deck; Mountaineers to Follow
No. 16 Trinity was supposed to face No. 20 Southwestern on April 7 but the match was postponed due to inclement weather. The new date will now be this Friday, April 21, in Georgetown, Texas.
On the Pirates: Southwestern has improved their record to 16-3 (5-0 SCAC) since they were originally scheduled to play Trinity two weeks ago – scoring an 8-1 win over Concordia University (TX) and a 9-0 win over Colorado College.
Over Trinity's stretch of ranked opponents, Southwestern has also battled No. 1 Chicago (L, 1-8; March 17), No. 24 Colby (W, 6-3; March 23) and No. 37 UT-Dallas (W, 6-3; April 1) while adding in a February 26 victory at No. 19 California Institute of Technology, 6-3.
The Pirates moved up three spots in the latest ITA national team rankings to No. 20, and two spots in the regional rankings putting them at No. 4 in the West – right on the Tigers' heels.
Nina Mitrofanova and Emma Kesterson represent Southwestern in the latest ITA regional rankings as the No. 12 and No. 24 singles players, while Mitrofanova is now paired with Lydia Lee as the No. 12 doubles team in the West.
Trinity holds a 12-2 series record over the Pirates since 2010, though both Tiger setbacks came within three weeks of each other in the 2021 season. Last time out in the 2022 SCAC Championship, Trinity powered its way into the 2022 NCAA III tournament with a 5-0 knockout in Kerrville, Texas.
On the Mountaineers: Schreiner is currently 7-13 on the season, with a split 2-2 record in SCAC play, and have won their last four matches. Their last two victories were both 9-0 sweeps – Austin College on April 15 and Sul Ross State University on April 1.
Six of the Mountaineers' losses have come in shutouts, including a pair of home losses against No. 15 Johns Hopkins (March 21) and No. 20 Southwestern (March 3).
The Mountaineers have faced off against the Tigers nine times since 2010, each match resulting in a clean sweep by Trinity – three with a final score of 5-0 and the other six finishing at 9-0.
Bring on the Post-Season
No. 16 Trinity Women's Tennis will compete in the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Southwestern in Georgetown, Texas, April 28-30.
