The UNM women’s tennis team earned a split this weekend.
The Lobos fell 4-3 in a heartbreaker to NMSU on Friday before rebounding for a 6-1 win against Montana State on Saturday at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex.
“Our purpose statement as a team is to improve,” head coach Roy Cañada said. “We’ve done that, and we continue to do that. It was important to come back from a tough, heartbreaking loss and rebound, and we were able to do that. I’m very proud of the team.”
With the match tied at 3-3 against in-state rival NMSU, sophomore Laura Richardson dropped a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 match to NMSU’s Jodie Williams at the No. 5 spot to clinch the match for NMSU.
Still, Cañada said he could see positives in the match.
“We played with a lot of fight,” he said. “We never gave up, and I’m proud of the way we stayed with them until the end.”
UNM came out with vengeance on its mind against Montana State, winning the doubles point convincingly and gaining victories at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 singles spots.
“We came back Saturday so hungry for that win,” sophomore Michaela Oldani said. “It showed how much we wanted it, and we fought hard for the 6-1 win.”
Oldani, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., was a 6-7, 6-3, (10-6) winner against MSU’s Jennifer Coll.
But it was the Lobo from Palm Desert, Calif., Kristin Eggleston, who defeated the Bobcats’ Andrea De La Torre 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the win for UNM on Saturday.
“I won the first set pretty handily,” Eggleston said. “But I went down love-three and had to battle back in the second set. There was no way that I was going to lose, so I stayed focused and came back and won that set, too.”
UNM improved to 5-3 overall. Meanwhile, NMSU is 3-1 and
MSU is 1-3.
Cañada said he is looking for good things from his team for the rest of the season.
“We are playing with a lot of heart and a lot of determination,” he said. “At this point in the season, that’s a good thing. We are working hard, and we are improving every weekend, which is very encouraging to see. And I like that we just don’t want to give in.”
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*Women’s tennis vs. Oregon
Saturday, 11 a.m.
Boulder, Colo.
*
