ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Dominique Dulski and Diana Wong kept on rolling, and the women’s tennis team went rolling right along with them, as their wins in singles and doubles helped propel the Lobos to a 5-2 victory over Utah State and give UNM its third straight win.
UNM got off on the right foot with a doubles-point win, giving the Lobos a quick 1-0 lead. Ludivine Burguiere, who hadn’t played in a doubles match in over five weeks (February 25), teamed with Cassie Chung to nab a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles. UNM then clinched the doubles point when Dulski and Rachana Bhat won at No. 1 doubles. Up 6-5, Bhat’s at-the-net drop volley caught Utah Stat looking and UNM went up 1-0.
Dulski won her fourth straight match to make it 2-0, blitzing Monika Van de Vondel 6-1, 6-1. For Dulski it was a fourth straight win, and her last five sets have been nothing short of dominant, winning 30-6 combined in her last five sets (6-2, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1). Utah State got one point back at No. 1 singles when Nini Guensler defeated Burguiere 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.
However, the match soon ended. Diana Wong possibly forgot what time singles started, as she won 0-6, 6-0, 6-1 over Sabrina Demerath. The win was her sixth in a row as she hasn’t lost since February 17. Rhacna Bhat then ended the match with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win at No. 5 singles. That win was her 88th of her career, tying her for seventh on the all-time UNM wins list.
With the match clinched, Cassie Chung retired trailing 1-6, 6-4, 3-1. Chung, who has been battling an illness, was the victim of an odd sequence in which her opponent served in back-to-back games by mistake. That retirement made it 4-2, and Ruth Copas finished the match off with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles, her second straight win in that slot.
The win moved UNM to 4-11 overall, and 1-0 in the Mountain West, while Utah State dropped to 10-8 and 1-2 in the Mountain West. The Lobos host Boise State on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on Senior Day as Burguiere, Dulski, Bhat and Emily Olivier will be playing in their final home matches.