CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's and men's tennis teams won the Southland Conference Tournament Championship. A 3-peat for the women's program.
"The way these kids rose up with such courage and such heart and the hard work they've put in since September to be ready for this moment is just, it is priceless," Steve Moore, Islanders Tennis Director, said.
Valeria Cherfus clinched the championship with a victory on court 4. Her tenth consecutive win this season, earning tournament MVP
"Should I like throw my racquet or should I like scream or I don't know," Cherfus said. "I just did not know what to do. I was just there in the moment, and then when it happened and I hit that winner I was like oh my gosh, yes, that's it!"
Junior Naomi Moi McKenzie gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead after winning on court 2. Just moments before Cherfus secured the title
"Just the crowd, they were awesome. Just helping me to push through and start winning more points," Moi McKenzie said. "I ended up winning the first set 6-4 and I only lost two more games after that."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis has now won 6 conference tournament titles in 10 seasons.
"We just knew we were going to do it. We just knew it because we had this goal from the very beginning of the season," Cherfus said. "We knew it and it was just like we had to play with freedom and just play to win.
The Islanders Tennis program has now won 33 championships together, including eight in the last three seasons. The women's victory came after the men won the SLC Championship on Saturday over New Orleans. Islanders Tennis will be making their 16th appearance at the NCAA Tournament.
WOMEN
A&M-Corpus Christi 4, UIW 1
Doubles Competition
1. Brandelyn Fulgenzi and Estefania Gonzalez (UIW) def. Naomi Moi McKenzie and Sofia Pinto (AMCC) 6-1
2. Emma Aucagne and Victoire Delattre (AMCC) def. Lyric Bonilla and Gargi Pawar (UIW) 6-2
3. Valeria Cherfus and Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) def. Nitika Girish and Amelie Montalvo (UIW) 6-3
Singles Competition
1. Brandelyn Fulgenzi (UIW) def. Emma Aucagne (AMCC) 6-2, 6-4
2. Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC) def. Estefania Gonzalez (UIW) 6-4, 6-3
3. Sofia Pinto (AMCC) vs. Gargi Pawar (UIW) 6-7 (4-7), 3-4 unfinished
4. Valeria Cherfus (AMCC) def. Amelie Montalvo (UIW) 6-4, 6-1
5. Victoire Delattre (AMCC) vs. Lyric Bonilla (UIW) 6-1, 2-6, 4-4 unfinished
6. Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) def. Nitika Girish (UIW) 7-5, 6-1
MEN
A&M-Corpus Christi 4, New Orleans 3
Doubles Competition
1. Pascal Lorieul and Avery Zavala (AMCC) def. Karim Al-Amin and Espen Lagarde (UNO) 7-6 (6)
2. Max Heinzel and Luke Joujan (UNO) def. Ulysse Bertrand and Matthieu Peres (AMCC) 7-6 (2)
3. Tomas Quesada Perez and Nathan Schwartz (AMCC) def. Matthew Armbruster and Lilian Dubois (UNO) 6-4
Singles Competition
1. Max Heinzel (UNO) def. Avery Zavala (AMCC) 6-1, 7-5
2. Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) def. Karim Al-Amin (UNO) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0)
3. Matthieu Peres (AMCC) def. Espen Lagarde (UNO) 6-1, 2-6, 6-1
4. Nathan Schwartz (AMCC) def. Luke Joujan (UNO) 6-4, 6-4
5. Lilian Dubois (UNO) def. Ulysse Bertrand (AMCC) 6-2, 6-2
6. David Tesic (UNO) def. Lucas Schurdevin (AMCC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
