GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Women's Tennis squad will close out the regular season with what will be their first two home matches in nearly two months.
 
The Mavericks, coming off a 9-0 win over Colorado College last Friday, are 6-16 on the year and will host CSU-Pueblo in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up on Friday before taking on new conference rival Dixie State in a non-conference clash on Saturday.
 
Both matches will begin at 10 a.m. on the Elliott Tennis Center courts.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks wrapped up the road portion of their schedule with three matches in a span of just two days last Thursday and Friday.  The Mavericks fell 5-2 to NCAA Division I Northern Colorado on Thursday in Greeley in an indoor match played at Work Out West.
 
They then ventured to Pueblo for a neutral-court NCAA Division II South Central Region encounter with 32^nd-ranked Tarleton State at Pueblo City Park on Friday morning.  The Mavs dropped that match 6-1 but bounced back quickly to dominate Division III Colorado College in Colorado Springs that afternoon.
 
The Mavericks did not drop a single set against the Tigers and won 10 of the 15 total sets without dropping a single game.  In doubles, the Mavericks lost just two games.  Georgia Hansen, Taylor Hershey and Kylie Simons, playing in her hometown, all posted 6-0, 6-0 singles wins in the fourth, fifth and sixth, flights, respectively.  Hershey and Simons also picked up an 8-0 No. 3 doubles win before Hansen and Maike Waldburger won by the same margin at No. 2 doubles.
 
Kirby wins No. 3
 
Maverick junior Kristen Kirby was named as the RMAC Tennis Player of the Week for the conference-leading third time this season on Wednesday.  The Thornton, Colorado native and Mountain Range High School product has now received the honor eight times in her career.  She also received the honor on Mar. 6 and Mar. 20 of this season.
 
Kirby went a perfect 3-0 at No. 1 singles last week and teamed with Emily Beckley for a 2-1 record at No. 1 doubles in the matches against Northern Colorado, Tarleton State and Colorado College last week.
 
In singles, she defeated Anna Battersby of Division I Northern Colorado on Thursday before defeating Alicia Barbaroux of 32nd-ranked Tarleton State on Friday morning in a neutral-court match.  She then took down Colorado College's Tess Rubin, 6-0, 6-3 on Friday afternoon.  In doubles, she paired with Emily Beckley for wins over Tarleton State and CC.
 
As a team, the Mavericks have now won a conference-high five RMAC Player of the Week honors this spring.  Maike Waldburger received the honor on Mar. 13 after Taylor Hershey received the plaudit on Feb. 20.
 
Milestone win
 
Taylor Hershey's No. 5 singles win over Colorado College's Emily Faulks was the 50^th singles triumph of her Maverick career.  The Naperville, Illinois native is now 50-52 in singles throughout her time as a Maverick, posting a 10-14 record overall and 9-11 dual-meet record this year.
 
Triple digits
 
Senior Emily Beckley leads the current edition of the Mavericks with 108 career victories having gone 55-50 in singles throughout her career while posting an even 53-53 mark in doubles play.    She has played at all three spots of doubles throughout her career and in the No. 1-5 flights in singles at various times.  However, she has been exclusively at the No. 2 singles position this year, going 8-12 in dual meets and 11-15 overall.  She and Kristen Kirby are 9-12 at No. 1 doubles this year and are 13-14 overall.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
CSU-Pueblo
 
The ThunderWolves will enter Friday's encounter with a 1-18 overall record and are 0-1 in RMAC duals.  They were scheduled to play MSU Denver at home on Saturday in an RMAC match but that match was postponed until Tuesday (Apr. 23). 
 
They have lost five straight team matches since claiming their lone win of the year on Mar. 23 against New Mexico Military Institute.
 
One of those losses came by a 6-1 margin to the Mavericks on Apr. 6 in Pueblo.  They also fell to No. 32 Tarleton State last Friday afternoon after the Mavericks had played the TexAnns on Friday.
 
In the earlier encounter with the Mavericks, Nia Matthews won both of her matches teaming with Kali Hamilton for a No. 1 doubles win before coming from a set down to defeat CMU's Kristen Kirby in a 10-6 match tie-breaker.
 
Dixie State
 
The Trailblazers have put together a solid 10-4 season but have lost their last two matches, falling 6-1 to Division I Portland State in their final home match of the year on Saturday after suffering a 4-3 loss to MSU Denver in conference play on Apr. 6.   They had defeated CSU-Pueblo, 6-1 on Apr. 5 as the last of what ended up being a 4-match winning streak.
 
The have a pair of 10-match winners in singles this season as Megan Lynch is 10-2 while Kyra Harames has a 10-3 record.  Lynch has played mostly in the No. 4 spot but is 2-0 at No. 3 as well.  Harames is 9-3 at No. 2 and won her lone match in the No. 1 position as well.
 
Yolena Carlon has been the 'Blazers No. 1 player in all 13 other matches and has gone 7-6.
 
In doubles, Carlon and Isabel Heras are 9-5 at No. 1.  Harames and Lynch are also 9-5 in the No. 2 spot.
 
Lynch has won her last three singles matches and is 8-2 in her last 10.  Juliana Honczaruk has won her last four matches in spot duty at the back end of the lineup in the No. 5 and 6 positions and is 4-1 this year.  Her lone loss came to CMU's Maike Waldburger.
 
Last Time We Met
 
The Mavericks played CSU-Pueblo less than two weeks ago, claiming a 6-1 win on Apr. 6 at Pueblo East High School.  The ThunderWolves fielded a lineup of just five players that day and thus forfeited the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles matches.  Meanwhile, the Mavericks claimed wins in four of the other five singles matches after winning the doubles point when Georgia Hansen and Maike Waldburger finished off a dominating 6-1 second flight win over Sarah Megilligan and Emily Sporston.
 
Hansen also defeated Sporston in singles at No. 4 (6-2, 6-3) while Emily Beckley, Rebecca Osterberg and Taylor Hershey also claimed singles wins.  Waldburger did not play in singles due to the default while Hershey and Osterberg were left without doubles opponents.
 
The Mavericks have won each of the last 27 head-to-head meetings with the ThunderWolves.
 
The Mavericks have faced Dixie State twice this year, dropping both matches.  In the fall, the Mavericks won two of three doubles matches indoors on Oct. 5 before the Trailblazers came from behind to win four of the six singles matches at the Elliott Tennis Center later in the day after the weather improved to take the 4-3 decision.  Four of the six singles matches went to three sets in what was a very competitive non-conference battle.
 
The two teams then squared off again to begin the spring on Feb. 15 in St. George, Utah.  The Trailblazers again won four of the six singles matches after taking the doubles point to win that dual, which was counted in the RMAC standings, 5-2.  Three of that day's singles matches went to three sets while the decisive No. 2 doubles match was determined in a tiebreaker.
 
Although Dixie State is new to the RMAC this year, they have been regular opponents.  The Trailblazers have won five of the last six team matches although the Mavericks have a 13-6 lead in the available series history.
 
What's at Stake
 
A chance at the No. 3 seed for next week's RMAC Tournament will be on the line when the Mavericks play CSU-Pueblo.  The Mavericks are currently 0-2 in their two RMAC matches but would move ahead of CSU-Pueblo (0-1 RMAC) with a win on Friday and secure the No. 3 seed thanks to their head-to-head conference win, even if the ThunderWolves were to bounce back with a win over MSU Denver.
 
A ThunderWolf win would drop the Mavericks to the fourth seed.
 
MSU Denver (2-0 RMAC), which still has to play CSU-Pueblo, is already assured of a share of the conference's regular season title and would claim the No. 1 seed in the tournament if they or the Mavericks defeat CSU-Pueblo.  With two victories, CSU-Pueblo could forge a 3-way tie atop the conference standings at 2-1, which would send the tournament seeding into tiebreaking procedures.
 
Dixie State is finished with regular season conference match-ups and is 2-1.  The Trailblazers would be the second seed if the Mavericks or Roadrunners defeat CSU-Pueblo.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will remain at home to host next weekend's RMAC Tournament at the Elliott Tennis Center.  The two semifinal matches will be played on Friday, Apr. 26.  The championship and consolation matches will be played on Saturday, Apr. 27.