New Mexico women’s tennis continued to roll at home, winning a pair of matches over the weekend including a 5-2 triumph on Sunday over Wyoming at the McKinnon Family Tennis Center.
The Lobos defeated Colorado State Friday 7-0, and began Sunday by jumping out to another early lead. New Mexico pulled out the first two tightly contested doubles matches, to pick up the doubles point and go up 1-0 over the Cowgirls.
Lobos Ludivine Burguiere and Rachana Bhat scored early break point chances to set the tone in their singles matches and take the first set. But things heated up on the other courts, and it looked like those might be the only two first sets New Mexico would win.
Then Emily Olivier and Sharon Coone both battled back from being down a break to steal the first set in their matches, their gutty performances setting the tone for the rest of the day.
Burguiere and Bhat both won in straight sets. Burguiere topped Dorottya Jonas, 6-1, 6-3 and Bhat defeated Miranda Talbert, 6-3, 6-0. The pair of wins put New Mexico in great position, up 3-0 in the team score.
Wyoming put the next point on the board as Magdalena Stencel took down UNM’s Andrea Leblanc, 6-4, 6-1. Leblanc seemed to have trouble winning her service games as her opponent cashed in on six break points.
Wind picked up as the match progressed, causing some difficulty for some of the athletes. Coone went down a break twice in her first set, but only gave up one game the rest of the match. She said the conditions had a lot to do with the match not staying on serve.
“We kind of had trouble with the wind, both of us,” Coone said. “At one point, I pulled out my underhand serve and that made me more relaxed.”
Coone’s win technically sealed the team victory, but the schools elected to finish the remaining matches.
Olivier fell in the second set, which forced a superset tiebreaker. She cruised to victory by winning all 10 points in the tiebreak, winning the match 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-0). She said she made one simple change that turned the tide.
“I listened to my coach and decided not to do it my own way,” Olivier said. “The ‘T-serves’ were working for me; she wasn’t able to get them back.”
Dominique Dulski responded after dropping the first to take the second set in a tiebreaker, which also forced a superset tiebreak. She couldn’t finish things off and lost to Elisa Koonik.
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New Mexico notched a 5-2 team victory over Wyoming and swept the two-match home stand. Head coach Kelcy McKenna said she enjoyed playing in front of a large home crowd.
“Having the two week break and coming out and getting two wins at home is huge, especially against conference rivals,” she said. “I’m exceptionally proud of the girls and happy for them to get the win.”
The win brings the Lobos season record to 9-6 and a perfect 2-0 in conference play. They will hit the road for four consecutive matches, starting Friday at noon against Boise State and Sunday at 10 a.m. versus Utah State.
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.
