Two Advance to Round of 16 in Inaugural MW Qualifiers
Las Vegas, Nev. — Both Maud Vaneputte and Rebekkah Gaines won matches to advance to the Round of 16, but UNM’s run ended there in the first day of the inaugural Mountain West Tennis Qualifier.
The winner of the qualifier advances to the NCAA Singles Championships which are now being held in the fall.
UNM had three competitors in the singles field of 32, and all three players drew San Jose State opponents. Vandeputte faced off with SJSU’s Duru DUrgun and came away with a straight set 6-4, 7-5 win. Down 3-1 int he opening set, Vandeputte forced a deuce point on Durgun’s serve, won that and then got another break at 5-4 for the opening set win. SHe then trailed the second set 4-2 after the first five games were all broken, but she won five of the final six games, including the final two on deuce points for the match.
Gaines took down Carla Urchoeguia in a close 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 win. In the opening set, Gaines had three break points at 6-5, but couldn’t convert, but she jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak and never trailed. Tied at 5-5 in the second she broke serve and then held easily for the win.
The only opening round loss came when Maria Sofre won her opening set against the No. 8 seed Cheuk Ying Shek, but that was all she could get in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 loss.
In the Round of 16, Vandeputte faced off with No . 3 seed Ninon Martinache, and after dropping the opening set 6-0, Vandeputte opened up a 4-1 lead, but she could not get a set point anywhere, losing 7-2 in a tiebreaker. Gaines also lost her Round of 16 match, taking her second set in a tiebreaker before falling in three.
In UNM’s only doubles match, Gaines and Sodre lost to CSU’s Sarah Weekley and Victoria Erechtchenko. They held leads of 7-3, but playing an 8-game pro-set, couldn’t convert on any of their four match points, all on breaks of serve and three in a 7-6 game.
Singles – Round of 32
(8) Cheuk Ying Shek (SJSU) d. Maria Sodre 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Maud Vandeputte d. Duru Durgun (SJSU) 6-4, 7-5
Rebekkah Gaines d. Carla Urchoeguia (SJSU) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
Singles – Round of 16
(3) Ninon Martinache (SDSU) d. Maud Vandeputte 6-0, 7-6 (7-2)
(2) Jo-Yee Chan (SDSU) d. Rebekkah Gaines 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3
Doubles – Round of 16
Sarah Weekley/Victoria Erechtchenko (CSU) d. (4) Rebekkah Gaines/Maria Sodre 8-7 (7-5)