Women's Tennis: Team looks to build off first win of season in Arizona

The New Mexico women’s tennis team picked up its first win last weekend, and the team will have two opportunities to build on that success.

The Lobos (1-5) finally notched with number one last Saturday, coming from behind after losing the double point to defeat Wisconsin, 5-2.

New Mexico will open up competition on Friday against Cincinnati (5-3). The Bearcats appeared to have found their stride after winning three straight matches, but fell by a score of 5-2 on Feb. 18 to Michigan State.

Cincinnati has shined at the No. 2 position, where Kelly Poggensee-Wei has put up a stellar 7-1 mark. The team seems to be dangerous one through six, but that may not be something New Mexico will concern itself with.

First-year Lobo head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada said she chooses to focus on the things her team can control. And if the team comes with the right energy and effort, it should matter who the opponent is.

Still, Friday’s 11 a.m. matchup against Cincinnati in Tucson, Arizona should be a good challenge for New Mexico.

And if that isn’t a big enough test, Saturday’s matchup against Arizona at 10 a.m. could be even tougher.

The Wildcats (6-1) are coming off a tough 4-3 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 12, but the team opened the season 6-0 and boasts a solid roster that could probably give any team in the country a run for its money.

The team is headlined by Lauren Marker, the No. 27 singles player in the country according to the latest Oracle/ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings.

She has gone an undefeated 7-0 in singles play at the No. 1 position, while her teammate and usual doubles partner, Samantha Czarniak has an unblemished 4-0 record at No. 2 this season, according to the team page.

Marker is a well-accomplished singles player, but Wooten-Quijada said the national ranking isn’t something she would want her players to worry about, or even be aware of, desiring instead for them to focus on their own game.

“I think when you are playing against someone who is on the cusp of being top-25, you go out there, play your game and swing from the heels,” she said. “If you have a great day in tennis, anything can happen.”

One area that the Lobos could look to exploit to take an early advantage in both matches could come in the doubles pairings. Both opponents are hovering around the .500 mark in doubles play under the dual scoring format.

According to statistics on the New Mexico team page, the Lobos are just 1-13 in dual format doubles play, but the team has also tried multiple pairings—something that is expected to continue this weekend.

It could help alleviate some of the pressure if UNM can find the right chemistry to pick up the doubles point and play from ahead.

The depth of the Lobo roster has resulted in at least two different players competing at each position in singles play this season as well.

Freshman Cassie Chung has opened the spring season with a 2-1 record, and has seemed to embrace the big moments.

She said coming onto a team with five seniors has made the transition much easier, as they have helped her and fellow newcomer Diana Wong both on and off the court.

Chung said she has really fed off the energy of her teammates and coaches, and feels they have a chance to beat anyone if they compete at each line and support each other.

She said the team got off to a slow start against Utah last weekend, but rebounded to compete hard in singles.

The freshman said that carried over into the next match against Wisconsin, where she said the team had its best singles performance of the season to get the victory—something she hopes they can build upon.

“No matter who we play, we always expect to win,” Chung said. “I think if we just compete hard for each other, we have a good chance.”

Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.