MOBILE, Ala. (May 17, 2022) – The St. Thomas University (STU) Women's Tennis team (13-11) began play in the NAIA National Tournament on Tuesday afternoon from the Mobile Tennis Center with their first-round matchup against the 13^th seeded Indiana Tech Warriors (17-2). St. Thomas game into the bracket as the 20^th seed. This is the first time STU has made it to the tournament under the new format implemented in 2000.
 
Annie Carrera and Maria Camila Puente teamed up for the first win with a commanding 6-2 take on court one. Lia Peña and Carme Ibañez Navarro secured the doubles point with a win on court two 6-3.
 
Heading into singles play St. Thomas held a 1-0 lead over the Warriors and took that momentum to win four of the six first sets. Lauren Seeman and Annie Carrera fell on their respective courts which gave Indiana Tech at 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Bobcats then went on to win three straight courts; five, two, and six to clinch the match point. Ibañez Navarro kicked it off with a 7[7]-6[5], 7-5 win on court five. Peña then went on to take her two sets to sweep court two 7[8]-6[6], 6-2. Maruschka Berghaus secured the victory with a 7-5, 6-4 win on court six.
 
Ibañez Navarro and Peña were the only Bobcats to sweep both of their matches. This was the first meeting between both teams. St. Thomas will now move onto the Sweet Sixteen and take on the fourth seeded Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan. This will be their second meeting this season, IWU took the first one 4-2 at the IWU Invitational in late March.
 
Coaches' Corner - Matthew Roche, Head Coach
Q1: How does it feel to get the first win?
A1:While we knew we had already history by making nationals, it feels so much better to actually get a win here. We came in as heavy underdogs as we have done throughout much of the season but showed that we belong with the best in women's tennis. Indiana tech was a solid opponent but our girls pulled out tough wins across the board.

Q2: What is going to be the new approach against Indiana Wesleyan heading into this rematch tomorrow?
A2: Going into tomorrow, we know what to expect as we played IWU in Indiana a couple of months ago. They are a formidable opponent but we gave them all they could handle the first time and being outside in the southern heat should help even more. We are not going in to just show up, we are going with the intention of winning.