The University of St. Thomas women's tennis team traveled to Belton, TX, this weekend for their first fall tournament of the 2024-25 season. The Celts participated in the Crusader Invitational, hosted at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. With nine division III colleges competing in the tournament, including Southwestern, LeTourneau, UMHB, Concordia, McMurry, Texas Lutheran, U Dallas, St. Thomas, and Howard Payne, it is a terrific glimpse into next weekend's ITA regional tournament hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio TX.
For details and results of all the action, click below...
The Celts made their presence felt in two of the nine Singles flights and two of the four doubles flights. Junior Ella Mullins started the season strong with victories in her first two matches: defeating Kaylee Connolly of McMurry 6-3,6-2 in her opening match. Mullins then defeated Abbie Hughes of UMHB 6-4, 6-0 to qualify for the final.
While Mullins was taking care of her first two opponents, new teammate Alina Vishnia was doing the same. Vishnia won her first match 6-4, 6-1 over Chloe Tesser of Letourneau. In the semi, Vishnia needed a tiebreaker (10-6) to advance to the final. Unfortunately for the Celts, Mullins and Vishnia were in the same draw and faced each other in the final, with newcomer Vishnia taking a hard-fought match 6-3,6-4.
While Vishnia and Mullins were dominating their flight, a second UST newcomer, Hannah Snyder, was getting used to being a Celt. Snyder struggled in her first match as a Celt, dropping a very close opening match (2-6, 6-4, 4-10 tiebreaker) to eventual draw champion Caroline Marshall of Howard Payne. Snyder dominated her next two opponents, winning the backdraw easily.
Mullins and Vishnia may have been opponents in singles competition, but they teamed up for doubles and once again found themselves on the same court for a final. This time, they worked together to defeat their first two opponents, Howard Payne and Letourneau, before dropping the Draw C Doubles final 8-4 to a duo from Concordia.
The Saint Thomas doubles teams of Aimee Tran and Nataly Velasco, along with Hannah Snyder and Wells, both won their opening matches before meeting in the third-place match, in which Snyder and Wells prevailed.
The Celts will not get much rest before they return to competition next weekend at Trinity University and the ITA Regional Tournament. For more details about UST Women's Tennis, go to www.ustcelts.com or follow the team on Instagram at ustceltstennis
