With a pair of seniors leading the way, the UNM women’s tennis team won its last home match of the season by dispatching the University of South Florida 7-0 at the Lobo Tennis Club Sunday afternoon.
Lobos Natalia Alekhova and Nicoleta Spilca each won their matches in three grueling sets to help 46th-ranked UNM continue its good play.
With the win, UNM improved to 13-6 and extended its win streak to six in a row, including winning 10 of its last 12 matches
The victory was not as easy as it seemed, as four of the six singles matches went into three sets.
The seniors played inspired in the last home match of their careers and their teammates followed the example.
“Our seniors have been a part a big part of this year’s team and have been a big part of some of our most successful seasons,” UNM head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said. “Nicoleta is playing her best tennis right now and Natalia has been very consistent.”
Playing in her accustomed number one position, Alekhova won a marathon-type match over the Bulls’ Tina Harrison 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
Alekhova easily won the first set by taking advantage of several unforced hitting errors by Harrison. The second set was the exact opposite, as Alekhova played sloppily and had trouble keeping the ball inbounds and lost the second set. Playing her last set at home, Alekhova displayed an arsenal of shots and quickly went up 5-2 in the third set. Then Alekhova’s nerves took over and Harrison tied the score at 5. Alekhova regrouped and hit several hard forehand winners in closing out the set and the match with a 7-5 win.
“I was moving her around and playing real smart in the first set, but in the second she was just on the top of her game,” Alekhova said. “The third set was just a game of nerves and after I got over it, I was able to score some points.”
She has now won six straight matches and nine of her last 11. The win was the 20th this year for Alekhova and improved her career mark to 108 wins. She is now only five wins away from tying the career record in Lobo wins of 113 owned by Ana Friganovic.
“I have learned a lot and every match has been very important to me,” Alekhova said. “The home court was big today and it has always helped me. The people have always come to support me.”
Spilca also had a successful time in earning a tough 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Ashlee Callahan at the No. 5 position. Both players stayed on the baselines and traded powerful shots in looking for someone to make a mistake.
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Spilca nearly lost the first set.
She was down 5-4 and three points to one in the 10th game before showing a tremendous amount of resiliency in battling back and getting the 7-5 first set win.
In the second set, Callahan recovered to send the match to a third set.
Spilca stepped up her play in the third set. She started running down every ball and had her opponent frustrated. Then Spilca hit numerous crafty shots to win the match.
“In the first two sets I was just hitting the ball back, but in the third set I started moving the ball around,” Spilca said. “I just started to play a lot better.”
The Belen native said she has had a lot of fun playing for the hometown Lobos and that it was a great experience.
“I can’t believe this is my last match — the four years went by so fast,” Spilca said. “I am excited, but I am also sad that it is over.”
Two other Lobos won matches that were extended to three sets. Freshman Sandy Lukowski battled to beat the Bulls’ Jennifer Sinclair 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 at the number two position to win her sixth straight. Freshman Maria Ruiz-Fabrega ousted Ildiko Zubor in the number six position 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
The two Lobos who won in straight sets were freshmen Tjasa Suvak and Lindsey Marvel. Playing in the number one position Suvak won 6-4, 6-2 over Genevieve Houle. Marvel destroyed the Bulls’ Natalie Schwartz 6-1, 6-1 to extend her win streak to seven in a row.
“I am really happy that we got this win,” Kolankiewicz said. “We are getting better every match we go. We are pulling out a lot of three-set matches the last four weeks. Our inexperienced players are starting to figure it out and are getting stronger.”
UNM struggled a bit in doubles play, but managed to win two of the three matches to get the doubles point. Alekhova and Suvak lost in the number one position to Harrison and Sinclair 8-3. The other Lobos rebounded, as the number two tandem of Marvel and sophomore Caroline Pollock won a very competitive match over Houle and Schwartz.
At the number three position, Lukowski and Ruiz-Fabrega paired up to get an 8-2 victory against Callahan and Talia Romero.
Friday, the Lobos lost only one set in sweeping the University of Hawai’i 7-0 at home.
