The UAFS women’s and men’s tennis teams saw their bids for their first Heartland Conference Tournament championships come up short on Friday with semifinal losses in their respective six-team, single-elimination tournaments at Kiest Tennis Center in Dallas.
            The No. 5 seed Lady Lions beat No. 4 seed Newman Lady Jets 5-1 to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to the No. 1 seed St. Mary’s Lady Rattlers 5-1. The matches were called once one team had won a majority of the matches (5).
            St. Mary’s went on to beat No. 2 seed St. Edward’s in Saturday’s championship match.
            UAFS took control early in its match against Newman, sweeping all three doubles matches. The Lady Lions kept their momentum going in singles play, winning two of three matches.
            Against the Lady Rattlers, the Lady Lions’ only win came at No. 3 doubles, where freshman Abby Thompson teamed up with freshman Allie Wilson to beat Valentine Lambrechts and Joanie Bryant 8-4.
            “They were the better team and deserved the victory. We had lots of close sets, but we couldn’t pull any out,” UAFS coach Bob Huckelbury said.
            The No. 3 seed Lions beat No. 6 seed Dallas Baptist 6-0 to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to the No. 2 seed St. Edward’s Hilltoppers 5-2. The matches were called once one team had won a majority of the matches (5).
            Against St. Edward’s, which beat No.1 seed St. Mary’s in Saturday’s championship, the Lions’ first win came at No. 1 doubles, where freshman Chris Ramirez and freshman Jorge Salazar beat Pedro Bronstrup and Felix Blake 9-7. UAFS, however, lost at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The Lions’ final win came from freshman Clay Sandefur, who beat Alexandre Bueno in straight sets 7-6, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
            “I believe that we had one of the best men’s teams in years. That being said, even with majority of freshmen playing, I am very happy and proud of them. The future is very bright for us,” Huckelbury said. “This is one of the youngest women’s teams we had in a while with four freshmen playing in the top six. They played well, but we were hoping to go farther in the tournament.”

COLLEGE TENNIS
WOMEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
AT KIEST TENNIS CENTER, DALLAS
FRIDAY
FIRST ROUND
NO. 5 UAFS 5, NO. 4 NEWMAN 1
Doubles
Taylor Price/Masa Podunavac, UAFS, def. Kirstie Symon/Taylor Jordan, Newman, 9-8
Amy Belanger/Whitney Hobson, UAFS, def. Carissa Villaflor/Lisa Pleskan, Newman, 8-6
Allie Wilson/Abby Thompson, UAFS, def. Courtney Dold/Hernandez, Newman, 8-1
Singles
Symon, Newman, vs. Podunavac, UAFS, 4-6, 1-2 (DNF)
Pleskan, Newman, vs. Price, UAFS, 4-6, 1-2 (DNF)
Belanger, UAFS, vs. Dold, Newman, 6-4, 2-0 (DNF)
Thompson, UAFS, def. Jordan, Newman, 6-0, 6-1
Villaflor, Newman, def. Carr, UAFS, 6-1, 6-3
Hobson, UAFS, def. Jessica Brown, Newman, 6-2, 6-1
 
SEMIFINALS
NO. 1 ST. MARY’S 5, NO. 5 UAFS 1
Doubles
Mariana Rong/Ariana Saldana, St. Mary’s, def. Taylor Price/Masa Podunavac, UAFS, 8-3
Christina Lopez/Felicity Delgado, St. Mary’s, def. Whitney Hobson/Amy Belanger, 8-3
Abby Thompson/Allie Wilson, UAFS, def. Valentine Lambrechts/Joanie Bryant, St. Mary’s, 8-3
Singles
Rong, St. Mary’s, vs. Podunavac, UAFS, 7-6 (DNF)
Lopez, St. Mary’s, def. Price, UAFS, 6-4, 6-0
Delgado, St. Mary’s, def. Belanger, UAFS, 6-3, 6-3
Thompson, UAFS, vs. Lambrechts, St. Mary’s, 4-6, 4-3 (DNF)
Saldana, St. Mary’s, def. Carr, UAFS, 6-3, 6-0
Hobson, UAFS, vs. Joanie Bryant, St. Mary’s, 6-2, 3-2 (DNF)
 
ALL-HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TEAM
Olivia Baltazar, Texas-Permian Basin
Amy Belanger, UAFS
Florence Boinon, St. Edward’s
Katie Daugherty, Dallas Baptist
Felicity Delgado, St. Mary’s
Natalie Gennissen, Dallas Baptist
Rafaela Haegele, St. Edward’s
Alexandra Khadhzyan, St. Edward’s
Valentine Lambrechts, St. Mary’s
Cristina Lopez, St. Mary’s
Lisa Pleska, Newman
Paige Rachel, St. Edward’s
Mariana Rong, St. Mary’s
Leah Rutt, Dallas Baptist
Kirstie Symon, Newman
Outstanding Senior
Paige Rachel, St. Edward’s
Freshman of the Year
Cristina Lopez, St. Mary’s
Player of the Year
Mariana Rong, St. Mary’s
Coach of the Year
Lisa Dausin, St. Mary’s
 
MEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
AT KIEST TENNIS CENTER, DALLAS
FRIDAY
FIRST ROUND
NO. 3 UAFS 6, NO. 6 DALLAS BAPTIST 0
Doubles
Chris Ramirez/Jorge Salazar, UAFS, def. Phillip Allen/Anthony Burch, DBU, 8-2
Clay Sandefur/Matt Tabler, UAFS, def. Bradley Hilliard/Ty McAllister, DBU, 8-3
Sean Manning/Caleb Gunsch, UAFS, def. Austin Serrett/Nathan Wilson, DBU, 8-3
Singles
Allen, DBU, vs. Manning, UAFS, 6-2, 4-3 (DNF)
Ramirez, UAFS, vs. Hilliard, DBU, 6-2, 5-1 (DNF)
Salazar, UAFS, def. Burch, DBU, 6-4, 6-1
Tabler, UAFS, def. Wilson, DBU, 6-3, 6-1
Sandefur, UAFS, vs. McAllister, DBU, 6-0, 5-2 (DNF)
Gunsch, UAFS, def. Serett, DBU, 6-1, 6-1
 
SEMIFINALS
NO. 2 ST. EDWARD’S 5, NO. 3 UAFS 2
Doubles
Jorge Salazar/Chris Ramirez, UAFS, def. Pedro Bronstrup/Felix Bake, SEU, 9-7
James Rogers/Maximno Agoglia, SEU, def. Clay Sandefur/Matt Tabler, UAFS, 8-2
Alexandre Bueno/Ivan Vaz, SEU, def. Sean Manning/Caleb Gunsch, UAFS, 8-1
Singles
Rogers, SEU, def. Manning, UAFS, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
Bronstrup, SEU, vs. Ramirez, UAFS, 5-7, 6-1 (Unfinished)
Agoglia, SEU, vs. Salazar, UAFS, 2-6, 6-3 (Unfinished)
Bake, SEU, def. Tabler, UAFS, 7-5, 6-2
Sandefur, UAFS, def. Bueno, SEU, 7-6, 6-1
Adrian Garza, SEU, def. Gunsch, UAFS, 6-2, 6-0
 
ALL-HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TEAM
Max Agoglia St. Edward’s
Phillip Allen Dallas Baptist
Felix Bake St. Edward’s
Matt Banner St. Mary’s
Pedro Bronstrup St. Edward’s
Nei Dos Santos Newman
Jared Fellows St. Mary’s
Andrej Klipa St. Mary’s
Zach Nicholson St. Mary’s
Chris Ramirez, UAFS
James Rogers St. Edward’s
Jonathan Rutledge Texas-Permian Basin
Jorge Salazar, UAFS
Freddy Sanchez Newman
Matt Tabler, UAFS
Outstanding Senior
Phillip Allen, Dallas Baptist
Co-Freshman of the Year
Max Agoglia St. Edward’s
Chris Ramirez, UAFS
Co-Player of the Year
James Rogers, St. Edward’s
Andrej Klipa, St. Mary’s
Coach of the Year
Russell Stearns, St. Edward’s