The USTA/ITA Regionals concluded Sunday, along with New Mexico women’s tennis team’s fall season, but the men’s squad could gain a bid to the national championships this week.
Women’s head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada had a busy week coordinating her first regional tournament as the host school, but the weather was perfect and the event went off without a hitch.
Unfortunately, no Lobos were able to walk away with a tournament championship, effectively ending the season with no UNM players nationally ranked in singles or doubles.
First-year Lobos Cassie Chung and Diana Wong played well throughout the fall, and Wooten-Quijada seemed pleased with their play.
“Cassie made it to the quarterfinals of the back draw, which was good for her first regional tournament,” she said. “Both Diana and Cassie had a little bit of nerves, but they handled it well.”
Wong picked up a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the first day of the tournament over Northern Arizona’s Blanka Szavay, while sophomore Ruth Copas also advanced with a straight set win against Cristina Moroi of UNLV.
Wong and Chung teamed up in doubles play, but fell to Boise State in a close match, 8-6.
The Lobos got off to a good start Thursday in day two of the tournament. Four players had fought their way into the round of 64 in singles play, and two doubles teams had already advanced due to first-round byes.
But then New Mexico’s odds of getting tournament victories were dealt some crushing blows. Ludivine Burguiere and Andrea Leblanc had earned victories over Montana State opponents, but both fell in the round of 32.
Third seeded Leblanc had her run ended by UNLV’s Paola Artiga. A loss in a first set tiebreaker proved costly as she fell, 7-6, 6-3.
The doubles pairing of Leblanc and Rachana Bhat — also a three-seed — was upset by Taylah Beckman and Kate Cusick of BYU, 8-5.
The remaining singles players in the main draw also went down. After dropping the first set, Copas appeared to be in good position up 5-4 in the second set, but was unable to extend the match, falling to Wyoming’s Magdalena Stencel, 6-0, 7-5.
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Copas said she had also trailed in both sets of her opening round match. There she found a way to win, but this time she was unable to take advantage of opportunities to extend the match.
Dulski suffered a similar fate, losing in straight sets to Chiara Tomasetti of Northern Arizona, 6-3, 6-3.
New Mexico’s doubles team of Burguiere and Dominique Dulski survived the round by defeating its opponent, also from BYU. But the duo could not get past UNLV in their next match, losing 8-4.
In the doubles draw championship, UTEP’s Vivienne Kulicke and Milou Pietersz punched their ticket to New York with a 6-3, 7-6 victory in the finals over Air Force.
A pair of Nevada teammates squared off in the singles final. Claudia Herrero bested fellow Wolfpack Sheila Morales, 6-0, 7-6 to become tournament champion.
Following the tournament, Copas said she thinks the team will perform much better in the spring. She said things have been very different this season with a new head coach and assistant coach and there has been a lot to adjust to.
Copas was the only freshman on the team last season and she said she has tried to use her experience to help Wong and Chung ease into the transition this time.
“They’re coming into a new team and doing really well,” she said. “I think once we’re all together as a team playing alongside each other, they’re going to excel.”
Individually, Copas said one of her goals is to earn a ranking this season, but she said everyone has the same team-oriented goal in mind: earning a trip to the NCAAs by winning the conference and sending the seniors out on top.
Wooten-Quijada said she knows the level of talent on the team is high, and individual players should be primed for a strong spring season.
The squad suffered through some injuries this semester, but the break should allow the team to get healthy and be primed for a strong season this spring to pursue that goal.
“I definitely think we could’ve played a little bit better,” Wooten-Quijada said of the performance at regionals. “We’re going to keep working hard and keep the focus for our main goal which is to make NCAAs and win the Mountain West Championship.”
The men’s team starts regional tournament play in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday. The five-day event runs from Oct. 19-23 and affords them the same opportunity to advance to the national championships in November.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, tennis, and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
