NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 31 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 match to the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday afternoon at the Headington Family Tennis Center. The Lobos are now 9-5 on the season and 4-4 against ranked opponents.
“Disappointing loss today for sure,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “In some ways we wanted it so badly we weren’t forgiving with ourselves when we needed to be and consequently got a little negative at times. All in all though, I am super proud of our team and how we continue to work and fight.”
The Sooners came out strong in doubles and tallied the first point of the day with wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Lily Miyazaki and Simran Sethi defeated Dominique Dulski and Meredith Hopson in the No. 2 spot and OU’s Zita Engbroks and Christiana Brigante tallied a 6-2 win over Emily Olivier and Dominique Dahlmans in the No. 3 spot. Natasha Smith and Sharon Coone were down 4-3 to Emma Devine and Malene Stripp in the No. 1 spot when the point was clinched.
The Sooners also claimed the first two singles matches. Rachana Bhat fell to Brigante 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5 singles position. Smith also fell in two sets as she dropped a 6-2, 6-3 match to Miyazaki in the No. 1 spot.
Dulski put the Lobos on the board with her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Engbroks in the No. 4 position. However OU replied with a match-clinching win in the No. 3 spot as Abbi Melrose defeated Hopson 6-2, 6-4.
Olivier and Coone played out their matches. Olivier claimed the first set against Sethi in the No. 2 position, but the OU opponent fought her way back to eventually claim the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Coone fell to Stripp 7-6, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot.
“Sometimes the tough losses are the biggest learning opportunities,” Jasper added. “I have a lot of confidence that we can take more positives than negatives from this match as we move forward and prepare for the conference season.”
The Lobos, who have played their last six matches on the road, finally return home next weekend for a match against in-state rival New Mexico State. The match will be played at the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium on March 14 at 12 p.m. MT.
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