Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas –The regular season comes to a close with No. 17 St. Edward's women's tennis team (21-4, 3-1) fall in a tough battle vs. No. 7 St. Mary's (16-3, 4-0), 6-3 Saturday at the Austin Tennis Academy. No. 32 BETH HAYWARD/VALENTINA MARTINEZ won their second consecutive match over another nationally-ranked duet, and ELISA GUILLEN and senior MARISSA WILLIAMS scored in singles for the Hilltoppers.
 
The Rattlers drew first blood with a win on doubles court No. 2, but No. 32 Hayward/Martinez fought hard to overcome No. 2 Tyra Timm/Kaylin Kruseman, 9-8 for the early match tie. It came down to the final doubles court where STMU won 9-8 to enter singles with a 2-1 advantage. St. Mary's would clinch the match by winning the first four singles flights, however, Guillen defeated Rani Goodland in three sets (2-6, 6-0, 6-3) for her 22^nd consecutive singles win, and Williams walked away with a win over Alex Corder (4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7)) on senior day.  
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• St. Edward's is 18-13 all-time vs. St. Mary's.
• BETH HAYWARD/VALENTINA MARTINEZ improve to 5-2 vs. nationally-ranked doubles opponents.
• ELISA GUILLEN closes the regular season with a 28-3 record, highlighted by an 19-0 spring season.
• Hayward recorded her 38^th career doubles win and 26^th of the season.
• Martinez recorded her 51^st career doubles win and 23^rd of the season.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Kendall Brooks' initial thoughts on today's match…
"It was an all out war today. From the very first point you could tell it was going to be a battle. It always is against St. Mary's with the rivalry that we have there. I thought we competed extremely well and fought hard and I am proud of them for that. Definitely had some missed opportunities, but overall we are closing in on where we want to be."
 
Brooks on senior MARISSA WILLIAMS…
"Marissa was my first recruit and the first player to play all four years for me, so that is special. She has come such a long way since her freshman year. I'm so proud of the player and the teammate that she has become and couldn't be happier for her with the season that we've had so far to close it out. I think she can look back on her career and be really proud of what she's accomplished and contributed to our program."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Hilltoppers have secured their spot in the Heartland Conference Tournament April 20-21 in Arlington, Texas. Information regarding opponent and time will be released soon on GoHilltoppers.com.

Follow St. Edward's women's tennis all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUWTennis.

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