ALBUQUERUQUE, N.M. – University of New Mexico’sNatasha Smith, Dominique Dulski, and Emily Olivier will represent the Lobos in the singles round of 16 at the 2014 USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships being held at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium and the Linda Estes Tennis Complex. All three Lobos advanced to the sweet 16 after rallying through two rounds of competition on Thursday.
Ninth-seeded Dulski, who had a bye for the round of 128, easily made her way through the round of 64 and the round of 32. She defeated Colorado State’s Natalie Heffron, 6-1, 6-3, in her first match and then wrapped up the day with a quick 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 17 seed Teal Vosburgh of Boise State. Smith (No. 17 seed) claimed a 6-3, 7-5 win over Nevada’s Sheila Smiley in the round of 64 and then sealed her spot in the round of 16 after taking down Nuria Ormeno of Colorado in a three-set battle in the round of 32, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Sophomore Olivier certainly proved her mental and physical strength on the court on Thursday as she battled through two tough matches. Olivier opened the day with a lengthy match against UTEP’s Davina Meza. Olivier earned the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Meza replied with a 5-7 win the second set, but Olivier pulled ahead to claim the match with a 6-4 win in the third set. Olivier finished the day with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Denver’s Sonja Radosevic.
“In singles, Emily and Natasha fought through two very physical matches each, which was awesome to see,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “Dominique Dulski also did a really nice job managing her matches despite being a little banged up all week. All three girls will have big challenges tomorrow again in singles—so hopefully they get a good dinner and some rest tonight!”
Sophomores Rachana Bhat, Susan Baklini, Meredith Hopson, and freshman Sharon Coone also competed in singles action on Thursday, however they didn’t find the same success. Baklini dropped a 6-1, 6-2 match to seventh-seeded McKenzie Davis of Utah State. Coone claimed the first set against No. 9 seed Nicolette Tran of BYU, but wasn’t able to hang on and lost the next two sets, 6-1, 6-3. Hopson battled Wyoming’s Nostya Tokareva in a tight match, but eventually fell, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Bhat also lost a very close match. She squared off against No. 9 seed Jena Cheng of Utah where she dropped the match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.
Hopson turned things around in her second match of the day and picked up a 7-5, 6-7, 10-3 win over Montana State’s Jessica Brycki in her first round of consolation play.
Hopson, joined by Bhat, also tallied a win in doubles action on Thursday. The UNM duo defeated New Mexico State’s Gabrielle Joyce and Marie-Pier Thiffault, 8-4, in the round of 32. They are the only Lobos still in the running for a regional doubles title and will compete in the round of 16 on Friday. Ninth-seeded UNM doubles team Smith and Dulski dropped a tough 8-6 match to UNR’s Sheila Morales Hildalgo and Clarisse Treand.
“Overall I am very proud of how our team fought today and the discipline we showed in sticking with the basics in tough moments,” Jasper said. “Rachana and Meredith were solid in doubles—the two of them are very smart doubles players and it really showed today.”
Matches resume at 9 a.m. MTN on Friday.