Lobos Defeat Wisconsin 5-2 for First Win
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — If revenge is a best served cold … it’s awfully chilly in Salt Lake City. The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team dominated singles play to pick up a 5-2 win over Wisconsin of the Big Ten. The win was not just the first in the Lobo career of head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada, but it came over Wisconsin, coached by Kelcy McKenna, who spent nearly four years at UNM, including last season as head coach.
The win pushed UNM’s record to 1-5 on the season, and was certainly a match where finally, the end result matched what happened on the court after several close losses, including 5-2 loss to Utah in which UNM lost a pair of third set tiebreakers.
“I’m really proud of the team for the way they played today,” said Wooten-Quijada. “We were trailing in a few matches early, but no one got discouraged, and we really played good tennis today.”
UNM was on the wrong side of the doubles point for the sixth straight match, losing 6-4 at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. UNM went with Emily Olivier and Dominique Dulski at No. 1 and Rachana Bhat and Andrea Leblanc at No. 3. The Lobos’ No. 2 doubles team of Ludivine Burguiere and Ruth Copas were up 5-4 when doubles concluded.
Down 1-0, it looked dicey in a couple of matches. Burguiere found herself down 5-3 in the opening set, but she not only battled back to win her opening set, but she reeled off an astonishing 10 straight games, five on break, to blitz Maria Argerinos 7-5, 6-0 to even the match at 1-1. That seemed to set the tone for the remainder of the match.
Rookie Cassie Chung continued her run of solid play with a fairly easy 6-4, 6-3 win, giving UNM a 2-1 lead. Ruth Copas at No. 3 was up a set, but down 4-1 in the third, but she broke twice in winning the final five games for a 6-2, 6-4 win, and UNM was one win from victory.
That came at No. 2 as Leblanc had a comeback of her own as well. After winning the opening set 6-4, Leblanc quickly went down a break at 3-0, but she won six of the final seven, with two breaks, to clinch the win 6-4, 6-4.
With the win in hand, Rachana Bhat picked up her team leading ninth win, improving to 2-0 in the Spring with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6. The only loss was a tough match at No. 4 for Dominique Dulski, who played doubles and singles despite a bum ankle that is finally starting to heal. She lost the only three-setter of the day, 6-1, 2-6, 4-6.
The Lobos return home for a few days before a fourth consecutive weekend on the road, as the team heads to sunny Tucson, Arizona to take on Cincinnati on Friday and host Arizona on Saturday.
NOTES: Bhat’s win was her 83rd of her career in singles, tying her for eighth all-time at UNM with Ola Abou-Zekry (2005-09) … UNM now leads the series 3-2 … UNM’s five singles wins (5-1) were two more than the team got in the first five matches of the season (3-18) … Bhat and Chung both have two-match winning streaks to lead the team.
New Mexico 5, Wisconsin 2
Singles competition
1. BURGUIERE, Ludivine (NM) def. ARGERINOS, Maria (WIS) 7-5, 6-0
2. LEBLANC, Andrea (NM) def. GRAMBEAN, Kelsey (WIS) 6-4, 6-4
3. COPAS, Ruth (NM) def. KIRSCH, Kendall (WIS) 6-2, 6-4
4. LINDEN, Michelle (WIS) def. DULSKI, Dominique (NM) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. CHUNG, Cassie (NM) def. ZORDANI, Christina (WIS) 6-4, 6-3
6. BHAT, Rachana (NM) def. PICK, Melissa (WIS) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. ARGERINOS, Maria/PICK, Melissa (WIS) def. DULSKI, Dominique/OLIVIER, Emily (NM) 6-4
2. BURGUIERE, Ludivine/COPAS, Ruth (NM) vs. GRAMBEAN, Kelsey/ZORDANI, Christina (WIS) 5-4, unfinished
3. RIDER, Sydney/KIRSCH, Kendall (WIS) def. BHAT, Rachana/LEBLANC, Andrea (NM) 6-4
Match Notes:
Wisconsin 3-4
New Mexico 1-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,5,3,2,6,4)
Women’s Tennis Tops Wisconsin 5-2 for First Win
