ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The weather may have prevented The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team from playing outside in Friday’s matchup, but it did not stop the Lobos from posting a 4-3 win over Northern Arizona at the Estes Tennis Center inside the indoor bubbles.
“A lot of respect for NAU for battling and making us go for every single ball,” head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada said. “There was a great effort from everybody. There are a couple things that we need to fix but this was a great win for us at home.”
It was the second time in as many years that the Lumberjacks and Lobos played a closely contested match, as last season the Lobos were defeated by Northern Arizona in a similar style, 4-3 in Flagstaff. However, this time the Lobos had the upper hand on their home court.
The Lobos opened the day with two quick wins in doubles to gain the advantage heading into singles. The first of the double matchups to finish was New Mexico’s senior Ruth Copas and sophomore Danielle Quevodo. The match was almost identical in style to the matchup going on just two courts over with New Mexico’s sophomore duo Bronte Murgett and Natasha Munday with both courts winning 6-2 to earn the team point for UNM.
“I think we did a great job today fighting for matches … We started off with great doubles, and good energy. We played fantastic against a solid team.
“Two (doubles team Yue Lin Chen and Hsiang-Wen Huang) was hanging in there and three (doubles team Murgett and Munday) did what they have been doing since the beginning of the season, which is really connect and play the rules of doubles really well. That 1-0 advantage after doubles really gave us a mental edge,” said Stephanie Wooten-Quijada.
The Lumberjacks were quick to answer back in singles with a win of their own from Emilie Haakansson who defeated Quevodo 6-2, 6-0 on court four to tie the match at one apiece.
It wasn’t long until the Lobos regained the lead, this time with a point from Munday who faced NAU’s Madi Moore on court five. An aggressive start from the Lobo led to a 6-2, 6-3 win over the Lumberjack.
The game was then tied one more time as NAU’s Chiara Tomasetti moved past UNM’s Copas after a toe-to-toe first set. The first set went into the tiebreaker which Copas just lost by a small margin, 7-6. Copas was then overcome in the second set, losing it 6-0.
New Mexico went on to win the next two courts to clinch the team win. The first of the two matches to finish was between UNM’s Yue Lin Chen and NAU’s Sydney Roman on court number six. Chen jumped ahead early as she posted a 6-1 win in the first set. Roman put up a fight in the second and forced the set to go into a tie breaker, which went neck-to-neck before Chen pulled ahead for the win, posting a 7-6 advantage in the second set for the team point and a 3-2 Lobo lead.
The last match, which secured the Lobo win, was between UNM’s Murgett and NAU’s Ellie Millard on the second court. The first set was back-and-forth through its entirety, going into a tiebreaker which Murgett dominated. Without hesitation, Murgett went up 6-0 in the tiebreaker which gave her the one set advantage. The second set was similar in competitiveness, and Murgett managed to command control of the last two games and gained the 6-4 lead, sealing the win for New Mexico.
With the Lobo win clinched, the last match of the day was still played out between Hsiang-Wen Huang and NAU’s Adrianna Sosnowska. Huang took the lead early, defeating Sosnowska 6-3 in the first set. The Lumberjack then answered back with two wins of her own 6-0, 6-3 gaining the last point on the day for NAU.
The Lobos now improve to 4-0 at home and 4-7 on the season. The Lobos return to the court Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MT as they take on the UTEP Miners. Weather permitting, those games will be at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
Lobos Manage Northern Arizona 4-3 at Home
