BOULDER, Colo. – The No. 63 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team closed out its weekend road trip with a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday afternoon. The Lobos now hold an 8-2, 1-0 record on the season.
CU clinched the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Julyette Steur and Tina Bokhua posted a 6-2 win over UNM’s Dominique Dulski and Natasha Smith while Alexandra Aiello and Ashley Tiefel defeated Meredith Hopson and Emily Olivier in the No. 2 position. Freshmen duo Sharon Coone and Dalina Dahlmans were down 3-5 in the No. 3 spot to Kyra Wojcik and Nuria Ormeno.
“We really struggled with our doubles today and Colorado made us pay,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “We are going to need to use this next week to work on a few key things, so we can keep moving forward.”
Rachana Bhat and Coone both picked up wins in singles action for the Lobos. Bhat defeated Wojcik 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the No. 5 spot while Coone tallied a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Vitaliya Alkhovik.
However the Buffaloes posted wins in the other four singles match-ups. Smith fell to Bokhua 7-5, 6-3 in the No. 1 spot; Hopson fell to Steur in the No. 2 position 6-4, 7-5; Olivier fell to Ormeno in a close 7-5, 7-5 match in the No. 3 spot; Dulski fell to Aiello 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 4 position.
“In singles, I was actually very proud of how we competed,” Jasper said. “We really laid it out there and actually put ourselves in position to win in five of the six spots, but credit to Colorado. They really stepped up in the big moments and played well.”
The Lobos’ next match is not until Feb. 26 when they face off against Utah in Salt Lake City.
“Over all it was a solid road trip and both Rachana Bhat and Sharon Coone had two really good wins each in singles, which was great to see,” Jasper said about the Lobos’ weekend in Colorado.
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