LONG BEACH, Calif. – Lobos Dominique Dulski, Rachana Bhat, Sharon Coone, and Susan Baklini each tallied a win in singles action on day two of the Beach Tennis Winter Invite being hosted by No. 41 Long Beach State.
The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team squared off against Portland in singles play. Dulski earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Sophie Van Den Aarssen, Bhat defeated Saroop Dhatt 6-3, 7-5, Coone claimed a quick 6-2, 6-3 win over Amanda Zuidema, and Baklini defeated Emily Gould, 6-3, 6-1.
No. 75 ranked Emily Olivier fell to Lucia Butkovska. Senior Natasha Smith dropped a 6-2, 6-4 match to Maja Mladenovic while Meredith Hopson lost to Jelena Lazarevic, 7-5, 6-2.
“Our singles was vastly improved today,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “Effort level and fight was at the level that we need it to be at to be competitive. Sharon Coone really had a strong showing; her energy was contagious today.”
The Lobos, who went 1-2 on the first day of the event, continued to struggle in doubles play on Saturday. UNM lost all three of its doubles matches on day two.
Smith and Dulski fell to LBSU’s Ebba Unden and Hayley Thompson, 8-3. Karolina Rozenberg and Laura Eales defeated Hopson and Olivier, also 8-3. Baklini and Coone were defeated 8-3 by Maeva Razakasoa and Julie Gerard.
One Lobo did however find success in doubles play. Bhat teamed up with Leslie Cheng of Cal State Northridge and defeated LBSU’s Ella Monsey and Alex Jones, 8-6.
“I’m still really disappointed with our doubles,” Jasper said. “We came out scared on a couple courts and by the time we found our way out of it, it was way too late.”
The Lobos will hit the court again on Sunday for the third and final day of the Beach Tennis Invite.
“Tomorrow we must be committed to our brand of doubles and play fearless if we want to put ourselves in position to win,” Jasper added.
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Schedule for Sunday, January 18
11am Doubles
LBSU vs CSUN
Portland vs New Mexico
Singles (10 minutes after all doubles matches have finished)
LBSU vs Portland
CSUN vs New Mexico