by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The UNM women's tennis team is two wins away from turning one of its most bizarre seasons into an NCAA Tournament appearance.
The No. 5-seeded Lobos defeated No. 4 San Diego State 4-0 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Thursday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
UNM has now won five in a row after a seven-match losing streak. The Lobos lost No. 1 singles player Iva Gersic for the season when she tore ligaments in her ankle in a Feb. 23 match.
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UNM head coach Kathy
Kolankiewicz said she is proud of the way the Lobos have rebounded.
"It's just been such a tough semester," she said during a phone interview. "It's so nice that we're peaking at the right time. The one positive thing a coach can take out of losing is that you know you can get better. We may not be the best tennis team out there, but we're fighting every match."
The Lobos got off to a good start Thursday, winning the doubles point after the No. 1 and No. 2 teams won their matches 8-2.
After Gersic's injury, the team had to experiment with the doubles teams.
Kolankiewicz said that process was frustrating at first, but she's happy with the matchups she
has now.
"We played very well at (No.) 1 and (No.) 2 doubles," she said. "I was just real happy. It's something we struggled with the whole season, but we're getting better with that. We got the point, which is just a huge momentum booster, especially at conference."
Although UNM won 4-0, most of the singles matches were close in the first set. SDSU won two of the first six sets before Ola Abou-Zekry, Sandra Zmak and Jennifer Ryba clinched the match with two-set wins.
Kolankiewicz said winning the tough first sets deflated the Aztecs' confidence and gave UNM
momentum.
"They were just all really close first sets," she said. "That mental advantage of winning the first set was huge for us. We're riding on a high note and feeling pretty confident. It's fun when you get that fourth point."
With the win, the Lobos advance to the second round to take on No. 1 seed Brigham Young. The winner will then play in Saturday's championship match against the winner of No. 2 seed Texas Christian and No. 3 seed UNLV.
The Cougars were the last team to defeat UNM, winning 6-1 on April 6 in Salt Lake City.
Even though it was a 6-1 loss, UNM tested BYU in that match. After losing a close doubles point, the Lobos pushed three of the singles matches to three sets. Since that match, UNM is on its five-match, season-long winning streak, including a three-match weekend in which it did not lose a point.
Kolankiewicz said the Lobos are playing well together, and it's BYU's match to lose today.
"It's a golden opportunity for us and nothing else," she said. "We tested them for sure the last time we played them. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose in (today's) match. All the pressure's going to be on them."
Doubles
No. 1 Sandra Zmak/Lucy Scott of UNM defeated Alesya Vidov/Milana Yusupov of SDSU 8-2
No. 2 Ola Abou-Zekry/Jennifer Ryba of UNM defeated Holly Bagshaw/Kathryn Kitts of SDSU 8-2
No. 3 Nora Quintal/Maria Sotirchos of UNM played Esther Cadua/Sisse Nielsen of SDSU; match did not finish; UNM led 7-6
Singles
No. 1 Abou-Zekry of UNM defeated Vidov of SDSU 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Zmak of UNM defeated Bagshaw of SDSU 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Cadua of SDSU played Mackenzie White of UNM; match did not finish; Cadua led 7-5, 3-2
No. 4 Yusupov of SDSU played Quintal of UNM; match did not finish; Yusupov led
7-5, 2-1
No. 5 Scott of UNM played Nielsen of SDSU; match did not finish; Scott led 6-2, 2-5
No. 6 Ryba of UNM defeated Ozge Atalay of SDSU 6-2, 6-3
Women's tennis vs. BYU
MWC Tournament semifinals
Today, 2 p.m.
Colorado Springs, Colo.
