Women's tennis falls to IUP, and AU move up rankings

By Rodrigo Burgos Avila | Editor in chief

The Augusta University women’s tennis team lost to Indiana University of Pennsylvania 5-2 at Hilton Head, S.C., on Tuesday, March 10.

Indiana secured the doubles point by winning at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The pair of Priscilla Landi and Julieta Palma fell 6-1 at No. 2, while Camila Taborga and Giovanna Patrocinio lost 6-3 at No. 3. At No. 1 doubles, Andrea Gonzalez and Maria Gento were trailing 4-3 when play was halted after the point had already been decided.

In singles play, the Jaguars showed plenty of fight, battling until the end and securing two victories.

Andrea Gonzalez earned Augusta’s first point at No. 2 singles. After dropping the opening set 4-6, Gonzalez battled back to take the second set 7-5 before winning the third-set tiebreaker 10-8.

Giovanna Patrocinio serves it up to get the set started. Patrocinio secured one of the two Jaguar points against IUP at No. 6 singles. (photo by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)

The second point came in similar fashion from Giovanna Patrocinio at No. 6 singles. Patrocinio lost the first set 3-6 but responded by winning the second set 6-3 and closing the match with a 10-8 victory in the third-set tiebreaker.

Maria Gento fell at No. 1 singles with scores of 0-6 and 2-6. Luciana Bejarano lost at No. 3 singles 4-6, 2-6. Priscilla Landi battled in a three-set match at No. 4 singles but ultimately fell 0-6, 6-3, 3-10. Camila Taborga also pushed her match to three sets at No. 5 singles before losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-10.

With the result, Augusta now sits at 4-4 on the season.

The Jaguars will have several days to rest and recover before traveling to Macon, Ga., to face Middle Georgia on Monday, March 16.

On the men’s side, Augusta University moved up to No. 21 in the latest ITA Division II national rankings released March 11. The Jaguars are currently 6-5 this season after opening the spring with a challenging schedule that included multiple nationally ranked opponents and several Division I programs. The Jags play in a stacked Peach Belt Conference that features multiple nationally ranked programs led by Flagler at No. 3 in the country, North Georgia at No. 12 and Lander at No. 24.

Contact Rodrigo Burgos Avila at rburgosavila@augusta.edu.

Arthur Valette uses his backhand to return a serve. The senior from Lyon, France features as the No. 1 or No. 2 in singles play for the Jaguars. At the top of the page, Andrea Gonzalez serves during her singles match. (photos by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)