Women's Tennis Stays Perfect with 4-3 Win Over Seattle

SPOKANE, Wash. — No doubles point? No problem.  UNM’s stout singles lineup took care of business as UNM swept the final four singles slots for a 4-3 victory over Seattle in a neutral site match played at Gonzaga.  The Lobos had a 4-2 lead when Hsuan Huang clinched the victory.

The Lobos fell behind 1-0 when they could only muster one doubles win, that by Leonie Hoppe and Katherine Jhang who played together for the first time in the spring and won 6-2 at No. 1 singles, but that was all UNM could get.  The Vandeputte twins, Maud and Bente, fell 6-2 at No. 3, and UNM couldn’t get a break it needed at No. 2 doubles as Maria Sodre and Hsuan Huang fell 6-4.

That put UNM down 1-0, but the Lobos took the opening sets at Nos 3-6, putting them in control of the match.  UNM made quick work of three of those leads as Bente Vandeputte scored a 6-1, 6-1 win over Lola Tavcar to even things at 1-1 before her sister Maud put UNM in the lead.  She did that at No. 4 with a 6-3, 6-0 over Anastasia Nikiolava.  That was followed by Hoppe’s second win of the day, this a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Jade Quintana.

That gave UNM a 3-1 lead with Seattle up a set at Nos. 1 and 2, but with Hsuan Huang up at No. 3.  Seattle got it to 3-2 when Lamiji Avdic beat Jhang 6-3, 6-2 to inch closer, but Huang was able to end things officially with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Liliya Dimova.

Sarah O’Connor nearly crawled back in her match, as she was down 3-1 in the second set but ultimately lost 7-5, 6-4 to Elena Kravela at No. 1 singles.

UNM faced Gonzaga tomorrow at 1 pm Mountain Time.   Fans can watch via www.golobos.com/watchwtennis and follow along on stats via www.golobos.com/wtennisstats