LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team concluded play at the Beach Tennis Winter Invite earlier today in Long Beach, Calif.
The Lobos picked up one doubles victory and three singles wins on the final day of action at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
“Today was a better day overall,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “The team really put their focus today in doubles on the controllables and we did a better job because of it.”
Sophomore Susan Baklini and freshman Sharon Coone teamed up for UNM’s only doubles victory of the day. The Lobo duo defeated Portland’s Saroop Dhatt and Emily Gould in a tight match, 8-7 (3). Dominique Dulski and Natasha Smith also battled through a close match up, however they weren’t able to seal the win. Dulski and Smith eventually dropped an 8-7 (4) match against Lucia Butkovska and Jelena Lazarevic. Meredith Hopson and Emily Olivier lost an 8-2 match against UP’s Sophie Van den Aarssen and Maja Mladenovic.
“I was proud of Susie (Baklini) and Sharon (Coone),” Jasper added. “They battled well today and picked up a win under pressure. Natasha (Smith) and Dom (Dulski) lost a heartbreaker, however we are really happy with their play and improvement as a team.”
UNM’s Rachana Bhat teamed up with UP’s Amanda Zuidema for a mixed doubles match.The mixed duo handily defeated Samantha Judan and Leslie Chang of Cal State Northridge, 8-2.
The Lobos went 3-7 on day three in singles competition against opponents from CSUN.
Smith and Bhat each tallied their second singles win of the weekend on Sunday. Smith defeated CSUN’s Mickey Hsu, 6-3, 6-2. Bhat defeated Kristin Poei in a three set battle, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Hopson tallied her first win of the weekend with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kiryang Kim.
Seventy-fifth ranked Olivier fell to Vivian Lin in a close match. Lin claimed the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Olivier responded with a 6-0 win in the second, but couldn’t hang on in the last set and dropped the match 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-2. Olivier, the only nationally ranked singles player in UNM’s lineup, went 0-3 on the weekend in singles.
Dulski also fell in a three-set match. The UNM sophomore claimed the first set, but dropped the next two to Criss Rodriguez; 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Baklini fell to Mari Taslagyan, 7-5, 6-4. Coone lost to Jessica Warren, 6-3, 6-0.
“In singles, we had our best start of the weekend,” Jasper said. “We fought as a team from the first point, which will be key to our success this spring. Overall it was a good tournament; we’re glad to get these competitive matches in as it will make us that much better next weekend.”
The Lobos return home for their next eight matches. UNM will host Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona in a double-header on Thursday Jan. 22 for their first dual matches of the season.
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