by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
The UNM women's tennis team didn't perform up to its coach's expectations at the Fall Invite over the weekend.
The Lobos finished the tournament with an overall record of 14-23.
"It was a very disappointing weekend in my eyes," head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said. "We're a much better team than what we showed. We lost two matches for every one that we won. Don't get me wrong - we had quality competition, but it is a wake-up call for us."
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Lucy Scott said the fall season opener was disappointing.
"Overall, it showed that it was our first tournament," she said. "We have been practicing a lot, but there is nothing like playing a real match in the real environment. We could have done better, but it's a good base to start from and build from."
UNM had only two players in an event final. Scott and Sandra Zmak teamed up for a second-place finish in the top
doubles flight.
Scott and Zmak won their first rounds 8-3 and 8-4, before dropping the finals 8-5 to Minnesota's Alessandra Ferrazzi and Karina Chiarelli.
Zmak and Scott performed poorly in the final, Scott said.
"It's kind of frustrating because if we played as well as we could, we definitely could have won," she said. "We just need to get back in the match-playing mind-set, which will take
some time."
Top singles player Ola Abou-Zekry sat out for tournament.
She was recovering from a June wrist surgery.
Abou-Zekry said it was difficult watching her teammates from the sidelines.
"It wasn't very fun not playing," she said. "It motivated me to get better soon and rejoin the team. The doctor said I could begin playing matches in three weeks, but I will probably just play doubles for a while."
Mackenzie White was also recovering from a wrist injury, playing No. 3 doubles with Ashley Bonner.
White finished the tournament 0-3.
"Even though I lost all my matches, I am so happy to be back," she said. "I was ecstatic that I even got to play, and it's just good to be back."
Kolankiewicz said players failed to step up in Abou-Zekry and White's absence.
"Obviously, it's hard not having two of our top players," she said. "They played No. 1 and No. 3 for us last year. But the players who did play didn't play to their potential."
Two freshmen also made their debuts as Lobos. Emma Hayman was 2-2 in Flight B of singles on the weekend, while Victoria Tessmar went 0-3 in the
same flight.
Kolankiewicz said she is confident her recruits will have better performances.
"They are better players than their results show," she said. "They are going to keep improving, but this weekend they didn't play at the level that they are
capable of."
Something beneficial can be taken from the weekend,
Kolankiewicz said.
"The positive is that it's a good time for a wake-up call," she said. "If we want to be the kind of team that we want to be, we have a lot of hard work ahead
of us."
The Lobos travel to Boise, Idaho, for an invitational Oct. 5.
White said she is excited for the next contest.
"We can only go up from here," she said. "We will have to look past this one if we want to do good at Boise State. Hopefully, me and Ola will be ready to go for that tournament."
Women's tennis at Boise State Invitational
Oct. 5, all day
Boise, Idaho
