No. 48 Lobos Dominate Rivalry Match
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 48 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team claimed the doubles point and swept singles action to take down the New Mexico State Aggies 7-0 in the Rio Grande Rivalry match up on Saturday afternoon at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
“This was an awesome team win today,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “I am so proud of everyone! We had a tough week of practice, and think we were also a bit road weary and tired so I couldn’t be more proud of how we took care of things today.”
Freshman duo Dalina Dahlmans and Sharon Coone claimed an early 6-0 win over Gabrielle Joyce and Marie-Pier Thiffault in the No. 3 spot while Emily Olivier and Natasha Smith took down Susana Alcaraz and Erika Castillo 6-3 in the No. 1 position. Dominique Dulski and Meredith Hopson were up 5-4 over Ashvarya Shrivastava and Denise Van Der Ben in the No. 2 spot when the Lobos earned the first point.
UNM also posted victories in every singles match. The Lobos started with wins in the bottom of the lineup and eventually worked their way up. Coone posted the Lobos’ first win as she defeated Mia Brandt 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 6 position and the rest of the UNM singles competitors followed in her footsteps. Rachana Bhat defeated Castillo 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 5 spot; Dulski defeated Van Der Ben 6-0, 6-3 in the No. 4 spot; Hopson defeated Rimpledeep Kaur 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 3 spot; Smith defeated Alcaraz 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 in the No. 2 spot; Olivier closed out the match with a tight 6-7 (4), 7-5, 10-8 win over Shrivastava.
“We played smart, high energy doubles and then went out in singles and played our brand of tennis–physical and positive,” Jasper said. “I was really proud of how disciplined we were today, especially at the bottom of our lineup. The quick wins at 4, 5, and 6 really allowed our top half of the lineup to go after it and play pressure free!”
The Lobos are now 10-5 on the season, 8-1 at home, and 33-6 against the Aggies.
UNM is back on the road next weekend for a pair of matches against SMU and Tulane.
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