ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – University of New Mexico sophomore Emily Olivier is set to compete in the quarterfinals round of singles action at the 2014 USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships after she upset the No. 2 seed Julyette Steur of Colorado in the round of 16 on Friday afternoon at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
“I am incredibly proud of Emily and her effort today,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “Emily worked very hard all summer and fall on the court and in the weight room and it shows. She’s an exciting player to watch, so I hope we’ll get a good Lobo crowd out tomorrow to watch her quarterfinal!”
Olivier got off to a strong start against Steur and quickly claimed the first set, 6-1. Steur replied with a 6-0 win to force a third set, but Olivier regained her momentum in the third set and earned a 6-2 victory to claim the match (6-1, 0-6, 6-2) and earn her spot in the next round. Olivier, the only Lobo left in main draw competition, will face seventh-seeded McKenzie Davis of Utah State in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
UNM’s Dominique Dulski (No. 9 seed) and Natasha Smith (No. 17 seed) also competed in round of 16 singles play on Friday, however they did not find the same success. Dulski dropped a 6-3, 6-4 match to third-seeded Mayci Jones of BYU. Smith fell to Idaho’s Galina Bykova, 6-2, 6-3.
Sophomore Meredith Hopson went 1-1 in consolation singles play on Friday. She picked up a 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 victory over Northern Colorado’s Chrissie Hoolahan in the consolation round of 32 and finished the day with a tight 6-4, 7-6 loss to Wyoming’s Silviya Zhelyazkovain the consolation round of 16.
Susan Baklini completed the day 2-0 in extra match play as she earned wins over Colorado State’s Mollie Cooper (6-3, 6-3) and UNC’s Hilary Walters-West (6-2, 6-1).
Hopson and Rachana Bhat also competed in main draw doubles play on day three of regional action. The UNM duo fell to No. 4 seed doubles team Tereza Bekerova and Lucia Kovarcikova of Utah, 8-0, in the round of 16. They were the only Lobos still competing in doubles.
Matches will resume at 9 a.m. MT on Saturday.
Follow along with all the action on the UNM women’s tennis Facebook and Twitter pages. Check full results at the end of each day on golobos.com.