ST. GEORGE, Utah— The Colorado Mesa University women's team came up on the short end of a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Western New Mexico University in a neutral-site NCAA Division II South Central Regional match-up as part of the Trailblazer Invitational here at the Dixie State University Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks, now 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the spring won the doubles point but dropped four 3-set singles matches in their second defeat in as many days.
The Mustangs rallied to win three of those matches after dropping the opening set and improved to 4-1 on the season with the team win.
The match was delayed nearly four hours due to rain before the Mavericks came out firing taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
Taylor Hershey and
Rebecca Osterberg claimed the first victory at No. 3 as they took down Kanna Kolovos and Julia Terrazas, 6-3.
Kristen Kirby and
Emily Beckley then secured the early Maverick lead with a 6-4 win over Julia Tozzi and Camila Gomez after the Mustangs had won at No. 2 doubles.
Hershey then easily won the No. 5 singles match (6-0, 6-1) against Julia Terrazas while Kirby came from a set down to win the second and third in tiebreakers to take her No. 1 singles match over Tozzi.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs claimed their 3-set wins, claiming the overall victory when Kolovos beat Osterberg, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 3 singles match.
"That was a tough match to lose as we had the momentum after doubles and winning the first sets in the lower part of the lineup," Maverick coach
Dan MacDonald said.
He also singled out Hershey, a senior. "She's having a great weekend and her hard work on and off the court is paying off," he commented about the Naperville, Illinois, native who is 2-0 in both singles and doubles thus far into the spring and the weekend.
The Mavericks will wrap up the weekend against Stanislaus State on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Warriors are 2-0 after defeating Western New Mexico, 6-1, on Friday before beating the host Trailblazers 4-1 on Saturday.
