All season long, they battled, scratched and clawed, and were rewarded by making history.

The Mesa State women's tennis team qualified for the Division II National Championship Tournament in Florida recently for the first time in program history.

"We've been working up to it for four years and we have a team this year that really participated and helped all they could so I think it'll be a great experience down there," said Victoria Sargent.

The room for error for the Mavs had never been lower. The Lady Mavs didn't have the advantage of a double-elimination tournament anymore.

As a result, they were eliminated in the first round by Abilene Christian, 5-0.

Coming in, the Mavs were on a major hot streak, winning seven straight matches.

"Coach said we could match up pretty well so, we've been playing good teams for the past three weeks and we've been doing great," said Sargent.