ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The No. 63 University of New Mexico women’s tennis squad opened up their Spring season with a 5-2 win over Colorado at the Randy Briggs Tennis Dome.
The Lobos went into singles play with momentum after winning the doubles point. Rachana Bhat and Dominique Dulski finished first when they defeated Colorado’s Tina Bokhua and Alex Aiello 6-2. To clinch the doubles point, Ruth Copas and Andrea Leblanc battled Kyra Wojcik and Annabelle Andrinopoulos, winning 6-3. At the time, Emily Olivier and Ludivine Burguiere were up on their opponent 5-4 in the No. 1 doubles match.
Dominique Dulski had an great night competing at the No. 3 position. Not only did her duo finish with a win first in doubles, she also finished first in her singles match defeating Annabelle Andrinopoulos 6-2, 6-2. She had previously lost to Andrinopoulos in the Fall in a third set tiebreaker.
At the number two position Andrea Leblanc finished second. She fell to Tina Bokua 6-3, 6-3. Emily Olivier lost her first set against Nuria Ormeño Ruiz 6-4 competing at the number one position. In the second set, she was down 5-1 and battled back two games to make it 5-3. She fought hard, but fell a close 6-3 to her opponent. That win for Colorado tied the match 2-2.
The two true battles of the night seemed to be the matches of junior Ludivine Burguiere and freshman Ruth Copas who had their teammates and fans cheering them on.
After Rachana Bhat made it 3-2 with a win at No. 6 singles, Copas battled Jeannez Daniel to three sets after she lost the first 2-6 and won the second 6-3. The third set was back and forth play as they competed for each game, but Copas stayed consistent and pulled out a win, topping Daniel 6-3.
“I just had to keep fighting, fighting, fighting,” said Copas. This is Copas’ first win as a freshman. In addition, this is also head coach Kelcy McKenna’s first collegiate win at UNM.
Burguiere battled tough against Kyra Wojcik at the number five position, winning a long match 6-2, 6-7 (13-15), 7-5. Burguiere won the match on her eighth match point. She had five shots at match point in the tiebreaker, but she fought off four set points as well. Once she got up 6-5 in the third, she just needed a strong forehand winner to put the match away. That final point for her win came within seconds of Copas’ win, making the final score 5-2.
“I am exceptionally proud of the way our team competed,” said head coach McKenna. “We knew coming into the match that Colorado would be a very tough opponent, especially as a match to open the season with. We are looking forward to continuing to build on today and further improve with the upcoming matches next week.”
The Lobos have a week off before hosting Southern Illinois on the 30th and Northern Arizona on the 31st.