The New Mexico women’s tennis team hopes to stay unbeaten at home when it takes on Utah this Saturday.
Utah enters the matchup with New Mexico riding the momentum of a three game winning streak. The wins improved Utah’s record to 5-2 on the season. New Mexico enters with a record of 4-2.
The Utes hosted a doubleheader last weekend, defeating Boise State 6-1 and Weber State 7-0. The Lobos, meanwhile, righted the ship after a couple of tough road losses to beat Denver 4-3 last week.
Lobo coach Kelcy McKenna said the team showed a lot of poise gutting out a victory over a really tough Denver group. She said the team will focus on the same three principles she has been preaching since taking over the team last July.
“The three things that we can always control as a group are attitude, effort and energy,” McKenna said. “And those three things come from playing for something bigger than yourself.”
The head coach said the team needs to continue to embrace the idea of playing for each other. McKenna said every time the team has played there has been improvement, but it still isn’t quite where it needs to be. She said the team will continue working to get better at it.
Last week, Rachana Bhat seemed to benefit from the support. Trailing 4-3 in the third set, her teammates gathered next to her for the conclusion. Bhat won all the remaining games to take the set and secure the team victory.
“When everyone is standing on the line right next to the court, you notice it. They’re pretty loud,” Bhat said. “When you know teammates are there supporting you, it gives you a lot of confidence.”
Another constant point of focus is putting itself in position to take the one point awarded to the winner of doubles play. The winner gains the inside track in the pursuit of four total points to earn the team victory. McKenna said Utah is very good from top to bottom and it will be another good test.
“Utah has always been a really tough team for us to play against. Anytime we can put ourselves in that position to play against tough competition, it’s a positive for our team.”
Utah has been playing well in doubles play this season. The Utes’ duo of Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa and Taylor Calton improved to a 5-1 record this season, while the pairing of Margo Pletcher and Brianna Turley also boasts one loss.
The match will start at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Linda Estes Tennis Center, located near the southwest corner of University Stadium. It will be the last scheduled home match for New Mexico until April.
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Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, tennis, and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
