Lobos Edged by Cal State Fullerton 4-3
FULLERTON, Calif. — For the second straight match, and the fourth time this year, UNM’s women’s tennis match came down to the end, and unlike yesterday where UNM won it at the end, the Lobos couldn’t repeat history. Cal State Fullerton’s Jadie Acidera won in three sets at No. 3 singles to pull out a 4-3 win for the Titans as UNM split a tough weekend road trip in California.
UNM was coming off a 4-3 victory of its own over Cal State Northridge, and the shot as a weekend sweep was there, but UNM needed a comeback after falling behind 3-2, and it almost happened.
Bronte Murgett muscled out a 4-6. 6-4. 6-4 win over Eira Tobrand, and that tied the match up at 3-3, leaving it to the No. 3 singles match that was also in a third set. Alisia Manolescu for UNM won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak but lost 7-5 in the second. In the deciding third set, her opponent Acidera won 6-1 to take the match 4-3.
“The team competed hard today. We didn’t play our best tennis but we showed a lot of heart and a lot of spirit,” said head coach Vicky Maes. “It’s crucial to stay positive and keep believing in ourselves. We are so close in all of our matches and we just need to keep grinding.”
UNM got out to a 1-0 lead with a pair of doubles wins, coming back to win the point after losing the first of three doubles matches. Sara Kuuttila-Webbert and Myu Kageyama took No. 2 double 6-3 to improve to a perfect 6-0 in dual matches, and then Hsiang-Wen “Albie” Huang and Danielle Quevedo won 6-4 to give UNM a 1-0 lead.
Huang picked up UNM’s second point to make it 2-1 UNM with a 6-2, 6-2 win, and she moved to a perfect 4-0 in the spring. Huang had the clinching singles win on Thursday. Up 2-1, Cal State Fullerton took points at No. 1 and No. 4 to set the stage for the finish.
UNM was to play Sunday in its home opener against Southern Utah, but the match was cancelled as Southern Utah cancelled its entire weekend due to injury and illness. UNM’s next matches will be on the road with a match in Flagstaff, Arizona against Montana on February 28 followed by a match against Northern Arizona on February 29.
“Looking at our schedule, we know wins will never come easy, so every little experience is an opportunity to improve and find that little extra that will help put four points on the board,” said Maes.
NOTES: UNM’s home opener is March 5 at noon against BYU … Huang has now won six in a row dating back to the fall season.