Jan. 30, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team closed its weekend of competition on a bit of a sour note Sunday afternoon at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex, falling to Texas Tech, 7-0, to split the weekends’ two matches.
The Lobos and Red Raiders both won on Saturday to `advance’ to play each other in the tournament-style format agreed to by the four schools competing. New Mexico beat UTEP, 6-1, to advance, while Texas Tech bested Wichita State, 4-3.
The Miners and Shockers met early Sunday in the consolation match, with Wichita State getting the best of UTEP, winning 7-0.
As for New Mexico in dual-match play, Sunday’s loss drops the Lobos to 2-2 on the young season, while Texas Tech improves to 2-0.
Senior Anya Villanueva came painstakingly close to notching a point for the Lobos Sunday, falling in a hotly contested tiebreaker match to the Red Raiders’ Haley Fournier in the No. 4 match. Villanueva defeated Fournier in the first set, 7-6, then dropped the second set, 6-2, before finally succumbing 10-8 in the tiebreaker.
Freshman Michaela Bezdickova lost in similar fashion in the No. 1 singles match, also loosing the tiebreaker 8-10 after splitting the first two sets 1-6, 6-4.
The Lobos also came within a couple of games of winning the doubles’ point, but again couldn’t quite get it done. New Mexico’s Ashley Bonner and Anya Villanueva, lost 8-6 to Tech’s Kelsy Garland and Samantha Adams in the No. 1 match. At No. 2 doubles, the Red Raiders’ Carolin Stack and Nikki sanders also squeaked out an 8-6 against the Lobos’ Michaela Bezdickova and Nikolina Grbac.
Head Coach Roy Canada feels Sunday’s will only serve as motivation for the long season ahead.
“We fought hard and with a lot of passion, we just did not convert some opportunities we had,” Canada said. “I am proud of the effort out there – never giving up. Now we need to learn from this loss and build on up. The scores do not reflect how close the matches really were. I am confident that the hurt of this loss will make us more determined and we will be better for it.”
During Saturdays’ home opener, the Lobos’ wasted little time dispatching of the Miners, winning two of the three doubles matches to secure the doubles’ point and five of the six singles’ contests to ice the dual match.
UNM’s Bonner/Villanueva duo prevailed against UTEP’s top tandem of Martina Trierweiler/Carolina DeLuca, 8-6 in the No. 1 doubles match. Bezdickova/Grbac cruised to an 8-2 win in the No. 2 match against Ximena Fuentes/Gabi Vasquez to secure the first point of the dual.
In singles play, Bezdickova made short work of Trieweiler in th No. 1 match, winnign in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Grbac, playing in the No. 2 spot, also wasted little time, ripping past DeLuca 6-2, 6-1.
Villanueva bested the Miners’ Alexandra Glebova 6-2, 6-2 to notch the point that secured the dual match for the Lobos. Michaela Oldani and Kristin Eggleston both notched singles’ wins as well, with Oldani beating Fuentes 6-3, 7-6 and Eggleston winning a third-set tiebreaker against Vazquez, 1-6, 7-6, 10-5.
New Mexico moves on to play a double-header against Western New Mexico and Abilene Christian on Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex. The Western New Mexico match begins at 12:30 p.m. and the Abilene Christian match begins at 7 p.m.
Scores
New Mexico 6, UTEP 1
Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011
Singles competition
1. Bezdickova, Michaela (NM) def. Martina Trierweiler (UTEP) 6-4, 6-1
2. Grbac, Nikolina (NM) def. Carolina DeLuca (UTEP) 6-2, 6-1
3. Eggleston, Kristin (NM) def. Gabi Vazquez (UTEP) 1-6, 7-6, 10-5
4. Villanueva, Anya (NM) def. Alexandra Glebova (UTEP) 6-2, 6-2
5. Rebeca Calvillo (UTEP) def. Richardson, Laura (NM) 6-4, 0-6, 10-8
6. Oldani, Michaela (NM) def. Ximena Fuentes (UTEP) 6-3, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. BONNER, Ashley/VILLANUEVA, Anya (NM) def. Martina Trierweiler/Carolina DeLuca (UTEP) 8-6
2. BEZDICKOVA, Michaela/GRBAC, Nikolina (NM) def. Ximena Fuentes/Gabi Vazquez (UTEP) 8-2
3. Marie LeBlond/Rebeca Calvillo (UTEP) def. EGGLESTON, Kristin/RICHARDSON, Laura (NM) 8-5
Texas Tech 7 UNM 0
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Doubles:
1) Garland/Adams TT def. Bonner/Villanueva UNM 8-6
2) Stark/Sanders TT def. Bezdickova/Grbac UNM 8-6
3) Ullathorne/Fournier TT def. Oldani/Eggleston UNM 8-2
Singles:
1) Ullathorne TT def. Bezdickova UNM 1-6 6-4 1-0 (8)
2) Adams TT def. Grbac UNM 6-2 6-2
3) Stark TT def. Eggleston UNM 6-0 6-1
4) Garland TT def. Villanueva UNM 6-7 6-2 1-0 (8)
5) Dynka TT def. Richardson UNM 6-3 6-2
6) Sanders TT def. Oldani UNM 6-2 6-3