GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Women's Tennis squad will look to forge a winning streak this week when the Mavericks make their final road trip of the 2018-19 season this week, facing opponents from all three of the NCAA's divisions.
 
The trip begins Thursday against Division I University of Northern Colorado on Thursday before the Mavs will play two more matches on Friday.
 
The Mavericks, 5-14 on the year, will play the Bears, indoors at Work Out West in Greeley.  That match will be played after the men's dual, which will commence at 9 a.m. 
 
On Friday, the Mavericks will travel to Pueblo's City Park for a 9:30 a.m. NCAA Division II South Central Region neutral-court encounter with Tarleton State, currently ranked 32^nd nationally, according to the latest Oracle/ITA NCAA Division II Rankings which were released Wednesday.  The Mavericks will then head back North to wrap up the trip against NCAA Division III Colorado College that afternoon at 4 o'clock at the Tiger's Burghart Tennis Courts in Colorado Springs.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks claimed their fifth win of the season and their second of the spring on Saturday as they defeated CSU-Pueblo 6-1 at East High School in Pueblo.  The Mavericks won a doubles match and four of the five singles matches while taking advantage of defaults at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles as the ThunderWolves fielded only a 5-woman lineup.
 
Georgia Hansen went 2-0 on the court throughout the day while Taylor Hershey, Rebecca Osterberg and Maike Waldburger also went 2-0, including a default victory.  Hansen and Waldburger posted a dominating 6-1 win over Sarah Megilligan and Emily Sporston at No. 2 doubles before scoring a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sporston at No. 4 singles.
 
On Friday, the Mavericks were defeated 7-0 by MSU-Denver.
 
Identical partners
 
CMU No. 1 doubles duo of Emily Beckley and Kristen Kirby lead the Mavericks with 11 doubles wins.  Both seniors also have identical 10-13 singles records this year to lead the team in singles wins as well.  Kirby is 8-9 at No. 1 singles after going 2-4 in the fall season.  Meanwhile, Beckley is 7-10 at the No. 2 singles position in dual meets after going 3-3 in individual tournament matches in the fall.  She won her 10^th singles match of the season on Saturday against CSU-Pueblo's Kali Hamilton.
 
Just one from 50
 
Maverick senior Taylor Hershey will need just one singles win this weekend to reach the 50-win mark in her collegiate singles career.  Assuming she plays on Thursday, it will be her 100^th singles match as the Naperville, Illinois native enters the weekend with a 49-50 career singles mark.  She is 9-12 overall and 8-9 in duals this year.
 
Beckley leads the current Maverick squad with 54 career singles wins while Kirby, a junior, has amassed 43 in her collegiate career.
 
Triple digits
 
Beckley leads the Mavericks with 105 career victories having gone 54-48 in singles throughout her career while posting a 51-52 mark in doubles play. 
 
Meanwhile, Hershey and Kirby are also making the climb to 100 career wins.  Hershey has 89 wins in her Maverick career while Kirby has 84 career victories.
 
Doubles point is key
 
The Mavericks have won the doubles point in four of their five team victories this season.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Northern Colorado
 
The Bears will enter Thursday's match, which was moved indoors due to weather forecasts, with a 6-14 record this spring.  They have dropped seven straight and are 1-9 in Big Sky Conference play.
 
They have scored at least one team point in all seven of their losses after last tasting victory on Mar. 12 when they defeated Division III Wheaton (Mass.) College, 6-1 in Fullerton, California.
 
Their last four matches have all been on the road.
 
In their last match against UC-Davis on Apr. 6, the Bears picked up a point from Sarina Chhabar, who won her No. 5 singles match, 6-4, 7-5 over the Aggies' Jessica Walker.
 
Tarleton State
 
The TexAnns, who will play CSU-Pueblo later on Friday, are 8-5 overall and 2-2 in Lone Star Conference play thus far this spring.  They have not played in April after dropping 4-3 decisions to both Cameron and No. 34 Texas A&M-Kingsville on Mar. 26 and 29, respectively.
 
Prior to that, they had won five straight matches blanking both Texas-Permian Basin and Western New Mexico after scoring 4-3 wins over then No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific and No. 18 Southwest Baptist on back-to-back days (Mar. 11 and 12).  They also hold a win over then No. 11 St. Mary's back on Feb. 16.
 
They are currently ranked 32^nd nationally in Division II by the ITA and were tabbed fifth in the pre-Spring South Central Region rankings way back on Jan. 16 but are the third highest ranked team from the region in this week's national poll behind only No. 12 Angelo State and No. 17 St. Edward's.
 
In singles, Nathalie Ulander and Neetika Sud both have nine wins to their credit this spring to lead the squad.  Ulander is 9-3 at the No. 5 spot while Sud is 9-4 at No. 2.  Alicia Barbaroux has also posted a solid 8-5 record in the top flight.
 
In doubles, Ulander is 8-4 overall having played with three different partners in the No. 2 and 3 spots.  In the last three matches, she has played at No. 3 with Shelby Fillingame, who also holds a winning 5-3 doubles record this spring.
 
Colorado College
 
The Tigers will enter Friday's encounter with a 1-13 record this season.  They have been held without a win each of their last three matches after claiming their lone win of the season by a 7-2 score over Hastings College on Mar. 30.
 
Last Time We Met
 
The Mavericks also played at UNC last year falling 5-2 to the Bears on Mar. 22.   Emily Beckley and Rebecca Osterberg won a 7-6 (7-5) No. 2 doubles decision over Madeline Doherty and Sarina Chhabra but were unable to take the doubles point.  In singles, Kristen Kirby and Beckley both won matches in the top two flights.
 
CMU's last and only known match against Tarleton State was back on Feb. 27, 2015 and also came on neutral courts in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The TexAnns won 5-2 that day.
 
The Mavericks also played at Colorado College last spring, claiming a 7-2 win to complete a season sweep after they won 6-3 at home in the fall of 2017.  Last spring, the Mavericks won five of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles encounters.  Returners Emily Beckley, Taylor Hershey and Kylie Simons all went 2-0 on the day.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's trip, the Mavericks will again return home for their final four matches of the season, including two at the RMAC Tournament which CMU will host at the Elliott Tennis Center on Apr. 26 and 27.  Before that, the Mavericks will host CSU-Pueblo in a re-scheduled RMAC encounter on Friday, Apr. 19 at 10 a.m. and Dixie State in non-conference play at the same time a day later on Saturday, Apr. 20.