BOISE, Idaho — The No. 48 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team stayed perfect in conference play, winning its third straight by defeating Boise State 5-2.
UNM took the doubles point after getting an opening with at No. 2 doubles from Andrea Leblanc and Rachana Bhat, who whitewashed Ari Paules Aldrey and Bobbi Oshiro 6-0. UNM lost the match at No. 3 doubles, setting up some initial dama at No. 1 doubles for the opening point of the match. For UNM, leaving it to the team of Emiily Olivier and Dominique Dulski is exactly what they want. Olivier and Dulski defeated Naomi de Hart and Megan LaLone 6-3, clinching the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.
In singles play, Boise State tied it when they won at the number four position as Sharon Coone fell in a tough match to Paules Aldrey. However, UNM rebounded with two quick wins at No. 3 and No. 6 singles to go up 3-1. Ludi Burguiere won 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 3 and Ruth Copas pulled off a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6, putting UNM within a point of a third straight Mountain West victory.
At the No. 1 position Leblanc fell to Oshiro 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), giving the Broncos a ray of hope, but that ray was extinguished rather quickly as Olivier, much like she did in doubles, came through when necessary. Olivier, playing at No. 2 singles , dropped her opening set, but rebounded with a flourish to defeat Teal Vosburgh in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. That gave UNM the win, and when Rachana Bhat won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles, that accounted for the final 5-2 score.
The Lobos advance to 3-0 in conference play and 10-6 in their season. They now head down I-84 for a 4 1/2 hour bus ride to take on Utah State on Sunday at 10 a.m.
NOTES: Boise State dropped to 8-9 with the loss … Burgiere has now won seven consecutive matches and is now 12-2 in the Spring and 18-3 overall.