The Lobo women's tennis team proved it could do more than just play with a nationally ranked team Saturday at the Lobo Tennis Club.
The day after sweeping Montana State 7-0, the Lobos walked away from Oklahoma, winning the contest 6-1.
In front of one of its bigger crowds this season, UNM had contributions from each player.
The action started with three doubles matches, and the Lobos grabbed the doubles point by winning two of the three matches.
The team of junior Maja Kovacek and sophomore Iva Gersic cruised to a victory over Oklahoma's duo of Bethany Griffin and Jessica Braver. UNM's Kovacek and Gersic won the match 8-2 and are ranked No. 4 in the nation among doubles teams.
"We played well," Kovacek said. "We took it to them from the start and just kept it going."
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The other victorious UNM doubles match featured sophomore Nora Quintal and freshman Lucy Scott defeating the Sooners' Irina Lykina and Christi Baxley, 8-4. That victory helped secure the doubles point for the Lobos. The team of Michelle Heidbrink and Tiffany Robertson fell to Oklahoma's Heather Saluri and Chelsea Orr, 3-8.
With the doubles point won, the Lobos needed to win three of the six singles matches. Kovacek, who is ranked No. 24 in the nation in singles, quickly won both her sets against Saluri, 6-3 and 6-1.
Gersic is also nationally ranked at No. 66, and won her singles match in just two sets. Against Lykina, she won the first set 6-1 and after jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, held off Lykina to win 6-3.
"I think I did fairly well," she said. "She started coming back a bit in the second set, but I was able to finish."
To grab the fourth and clinching point, Heidbrink dueled with Griffin and won a couple of back-and-forth sets, 6-2 and 6-3. Quintal had an easy first set against Oklahoma's Christi Greenly, winning 6-1.
In the second set, however, Greenly played much better and made Quintal battle to a 7-5 victory.
"She came back in the second set," said Quintal. "It was tough, but I kept working at it, and I was able to pull it out."
Though UNM's Scott played well in singles, she fell 2-6 and 3-6 to Oklahoma's Braver. The 6th point won for the Lobos came from Robertson, who had a match similar to Quintal's. Robertson won the first set 6-2 but fell behind 3-4 in the second set, coming back to win 6-4.
"It was nice to play a ranked team and come out on top," she said. "We all stepped up today."
The win gave the Lobos a 4-3 record, their first winning record of the season, and a win against a top-25 team.
"It sure looks good on paper," head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said. "Oklahoma has always been tough, and it will help our confidence."
Kovacek said the win shows where UNM belongs in the national scene.
"We did very well," Kovacek said. "We came ready for a hard fight, and it means a lot that we belong in the top 25."
