GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Women's Tennis team will travel to Texas for three in-region matches against Lone Star Conference foes in Wichita Falls this weekend.
 
The Mavericks, who are 3-6 overall and still in search of their first win of the spring, will play the host and nation's 14^th-ranked Midwestern State University Mustangs on Friday morning at 9 a.m. CST (8 a.m. Mountain) before taking on Cameron, receiving votes in the national rankings, in the afternoon at 3 o'clock (2 p.m. Mountain).  They then wrap up the weekend with an 8 a.m. (7 a.m. Mountain) Saturday encounter with the Angelo State University Rambelles.  The matches against the Mustangs and Rambelles will be played at the MSU Tennis Center while the match with Cameron will be played cross-town at Hamilton Park.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks swept the doubles matches and received a thrilling 3-set win from junior Kirsten Kirby over the nation's 24^th-ranked player in singles but dropped the other five singles matches as they fell to the MSU Denver Roadrunners, 5-2 last Thursday (Feb. 28) at the Elliott Tennis Center.  The Mavericks were also scheduled to play CSU-Pueblo last Saturday (Mar. 1), but that match has been postponed until Friday, Apr. 19.
 
In the dual, Kirby dropped the opening set to Tabitha Porter in the No. 1 singles match but rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory.
 
Kirby claims RMAC honor
 
Kirby was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Wednesday marking the sixth time in her career she has been so recognized.  The RMAC Preseason Player of the Year out of Thornton, Colorado, is the second straight Maverick to earn the honor.  Taylor Hershey had received the same honor on Feb. 20.  There was not a player of the week honor on Feb. 27 as less than half of the RMAC teams played.  MSU Denver's Helena Steenberg was the Week No. 1 award winner of Feb. 6.
 
Doubles Sweep
 
The Mavericks swept all three doubles matches against MSU Denver and have now won the doubles point in four of their last five matches, including three of the four this spring.  The Mavericks have won the doubles point in all but two of their nine matches overall posting a strong 16-11 overall record (.593) in doubles player during dual matches.  The Mavericks have used the same pairings in each of their nine team matches although Maverick Coach Dan MacDonald did flip-flop his No. 2 and 3 squads against the Roadrunners.
 
Taylor Hershey and Rebecca Osterberg, who have now won five straight matches and eight of their last 10, were in the No. 2 flight for the first time this season and defeated Alex Pessoa and Ainsley Winterrowd, 6-2.  Georgia Hansen and Maike Waldburger dropped to the No. 3 and claimed a win over Mackezie Hotan and Eliza McKean by the same score while escaping a 5-match slide.
 
Double-Figure Duo
 
Senior Emily Beckley and junior Kristen Kirby's 6-4 win over MSU Denver's Tabitha Porter and Helena Steenberg at No 1 doubles on Thursday was the pair's 10^th of the season.  They are 10-5 together and have a 10-5 mark in the top flight in dual matches this season.
 
The victory was the 50^th career doubles win for Beckley, who is now 50-44 in her Maverick career for doubles.  She is a 3-time overall and 2-time Second Team All-RMAC selection in doubles.
 
Kirby has now reached double-figures in each of her three seasons with the Mavericks going 14-19 last year after a 16-6 record with her older sister Katie in 2016-17.  She has earned First Team All-RMAC honors in doubles after each of the last two years.  She is 41-26 in doubles play thus far in her collegiate career.
 
Triple digits
 
Beckley has also recently surpassed the 100-career win mark overall.  In addition to her 50 doubles wins, she has 52 singles wins to her credit and is 102-85 as a Mav.  She earned her 100^th career win with Kirby when they pair defeated Western New Mexico's Julia Tozzi and Camila Gomez in No. 1 doubles play on Feb. 16 in St. George, Utah.  Beckley is 52-41 in singles.
 
Winning at the top

The Mavericks have winning records in both the No. 1 and 2 singles flights.  Kirby is 6-3 at No. 1.  The Mavericks are also 5-4 as a team at No. 2 with Beckley posting a 5-3 record.  Rebecca Osterberg played in that position in one match.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Midwestern State
 
The Mustangs are currently sit 14^th in the Oracle/ITA NCAA Division II Rankings (as of Feb. 20) after beginning the spring in the No. 15 spot.  They are the highest ranked team in the South Central Region but are listed second in the Jan. 16 edition of the regional rankings, the only one to be published this spring, behind St. Mary's, which currently resides 21^st in the national rankings.
 
They have only played two official matches this spring defeating St. Mary's last Thursday (Feb. 28), by a 5-2 margin after taking down then 14^th-ranked and current No. 17 Northeastern State (Okla.) by a 6-1 score on Feb. 16.  Maddy Coffman, Lea Cizeron, Greta Lazzarotto and Juliette Mary are all 2-0 in singles play while the Mustangs have won all six of their doubles matches thus far this spring. 
 
Coffman finished the fall ranked 16^th in the ITA's Individual National Rankings after making the semifinals at the ITA South Central Regional while she and Ashley Ramirez were slotted 22^nd in the doubles rankings.  The pair is 2-0 this spring.
 
In 2017-18, the Mustangs went 19-7 while winning the Lone Star Conference's regular season and tournament titles.  They also advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time and made their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
The teams last played on Mar. 23, 2018 in Pueblo, Colorado.  The Mustangs won the match 8-1 with Kylie Simons earning the Mavericks' point with a No. 6 singles victory.
 
Cameron
 
The Aggies began the spring season third in the ITA's South Central Regional rankings and 22^nd in the regional rankings.  They have since dropped just out of the nation's top 25 but are still in the receiving votes category as of Feb. 20 despite their 0-6 team record. 
 
They have won just three total doubles matches with Sarah Frendo and Alisa Savina claiming two victories at No. 2.  In singles play, Frendo is 2-3 at No. 1 while Melany Opolz and Pilar Jaurena are 2-2 at No. 5 and 6, respectively.
 
Notably, Zhenia Shviadok and Frendo were ranked sixth nationally at the end of the fall season after finishing in that position at the ITA Cup while earning a spot in it thanks to their regional championship  Shviadok, who has not played this spring, also made the national tournament in singles, taking fifth. 
 
Shviadok is ranked fifth nationally while Frendo sits 32^nd.
 
In 2017-18, the Aggies went 17-8 and finished as the LSC Runner-Ups to Midwestern State.  They also fell to the Mustangs in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
In the last meeting with the Mavericks, the Aggies won a 9-0 match on Feb. 16, 2016 in Lawton, Oklahoma.  The Aggies went 23-4 that year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
Angelo State
 
The Belles began the spring ranked eighth in the ITA's South Central Region rankings.  They have had a good spring thus far posting a 7-2 record heading into the weekend which will see them play MSU Denver and CSU-Pueblo on Friday before taking on the Mavs.  Their lone losses have come to Central Oklahoma and St. Mary's, currently ranked 11^th and 21^st nationally.
 
In 2017-18, they went 15-9, posting a 7-2 win over the Mavericks on Mar. 23 in Pueblo in the only previous meeting between the teams.  The Mavericks won the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches to earn their two points.
 
Last year's campaign was the first in 30 years for ASU who recently re-started their program.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's regional matches, the Mavericks will head to California for five matches over a span of four days, starting Saturday, Apr. 16 at No. 12 Azusa Pacific.