April 7, 2011
Lobo Women’s Tennis – At the Linda Estes Tennis Complex
Saturday: 2 p.m., San Diego State at Lobos
Sunday: 2 p.m., UNLV at Lobos
GoLobos.com: Recap, Stats
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
When it comes to the question of who will tear up first, or most, this weekend – Ashley Bonner or Anya Villanueva — well, it doesn’t appear to be much of a contest.
Bonner tears up just thinking about her final home matches as a Lobo this Saturday and Sunday — matches which also brings Bonner and Villanueva closer to the end as UNM doubles partners.
“We’ve talked about it a few times and we’ve teared up, so we don’t talk about it very much,” said Bonner. “It’s going to be a little hard.”
This partner thing between Bonner, from Los Alamos, and Villanueva, from Mexico City, goes beyond the lines. When Villanueva came to this strange, new world in Southwest America, she was a stranger in a strange land looking for a friend.
And Bonner stepped forward.
“Ashley is pretty much the first friend that I made since Day One when I got here to New Mexico,” said Villanueva. “She has been with me through everything. I feel that no one knows me better than Ashley. I think the bad times we’ve gone through has made us grow a little bit closer.”
They say that bad times produce inner strengths that will never be as deeply developed through rosy times. The Lobos have hit a few thorns on the court as Coach Roy Cañada has worked to build his program. In 2010, UNM went 1-21 and it was nice to have a friend’s shoulder to lean on.
“The last few years have been tough,” said Bonner, a fifth-year senior. “If we weren’t as close as we are, it would be a little harder. We were really close when we first got here and we have stayed good friends, never any problems. It’s going to be hard to watch her go because I know she will be moving away.
“I’ll lose these people that I see every day and am so close to and they know my life and I know their life. I’ll miss that camaraderie.”
The Lobos play host to San Diego State on Saturday and UNLV visits the Linda Estes Tennis Complex on Sunday. The Lobos finish the Mountain West season on the road against Wyoming (April 15) and Air Force (April 16) in Colorado Springs. The MWC tourney is April 29-30 in Fort Collins, Colo.
The Lobos are 7-10 on the season and have shown marked improvement from 2010, but they are not expected to extend their season past the MWC tourney. Villanueva says the challenges she has faced over the past two seasons have been an invaluable experience in personal growth.
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“It’s not only the hours you spend on the court, but the hours you spend in the airport waiting for your flight to leave. There are so many different circumstances that you were just with your team and only with your team. ” Lobo Anya Villanueva, on team bonding |
“Things haven’t always been nice and pretty and awesome and that really tested my personality,” said Villanueva. “We had the roughest year ever (2010) and that only makes me feel more complete as a player and as a person.
“It was really a test for everyone, not only on the tennis court but as a person, mentally. More than physical, it was a mental battle we had to overcome. We came back this year thinking that can’t happen again.
“I feel absolutely honored to be a part of this. It was an experience I’m never going to forget. I feel completely fulfilled with these four years.”
Villanueva came up from Mexico to become a Lobo because of prior contact with a former Lobo player and because of Cañada, who first came to UNM as a player out of Mexico.
Bonner had more direct links to UNM. Her older sister, Elisa, was a Lobo and Bonner also wanted to stick close to family and friends. She said one of her best days as a Lobo was when she was able to call her family and tell them her walk-on status had come to an end.
“It was the best feeling ever, being able to call my dad and say, “Dad, you can put your money away. I’m going to have a scholarship,'” said Bonner. “He’s like, `Wait, for real?’ He didn’t believe it either.
“My sister went four years as a walk-on and I think he was used to the fact that I was probably never going to get a scholarship.”
Bonner’s playing days at UNM have been severely tested by other factors beside the player on the other side of the net. She has battled back issues since her freshman year in high school. In the fall of 2010, she went down hard while warming up her serve for a match.
“It was shooting pain and down I went,” she said. “I had to be carried off the court. I was out for a good month and a half.”
Of course, that aching back gives Bonner a potential excuse this weekend, should the water works come. If she grabs her back while wiping away tears, don’t buy it. The only thing that will be hurting is her heart.