GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After a weekend off, the Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will return to the court for their only home matches of the fall season this weekend when they host Dixie State and Colorado College on Friday and Saturday afternoons, respectively, on the Elliott Tennis Center courts. They begin the weekend against former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Dixie State at 3 p.m. before hosting Division III Colorado College at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Tigers and Trailblazers will also play each other on Saturday at 9 a.m. while the CMU men are hosting Colorado College.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks have a busy stretch from Sept. 12-14 playing five matches over three days in a span of just 48 hours at the Pueblo Duals. The Mavericks went 2-3 as a team in those matches claiming wins over Texas-Permian Basin and Fort Hays State. The Mavs also dropped heart-breaking 4-3 decisions to Dallas Baptist and Newman to book-end the weekend and dropped a 5-2 decision to Nebraska-Kearney earlier on Sept. 13 before getting the win over Texas-Permian Basin later that afternoon.
Rolling at the top
Kirsten Kirby has got off to a great start in the No. 1 singles position winning each of her five matches at the Pueblo Duals without dropping a set nor giving up any more than four games. Kirby is 6-1 overall this year with her lone loss coming in the quarterfinal round of the MSU Denver Invitational "A" draw. Kirby also claimed victory in six of her final seven singles matches at the end of the 2019 spring season.
Speaking of success
The Mavericks have also enjoyed a good bit of success at the No. 2 doubles position thanks to senior
Rebecca Osterberg and sophomore
Maike Waldburger. That duo is a strong 4-1 in dual matches and have won three straight. They also went 3-1 at the MSU Denver Invitational and won the consolation portion of the draw at that tournament helping them to a team-best 7-2 overall mark in doubles.
Probable Lineup
Based solely on the lineup, Maverick Coach
Dan MacDonald fielded in their last match against Newman, here is look at how the Mavericks may line-up this weekend.
Doubles
No. 1: Kristen Kirby/
Laura Alsing (3-4, 2-3 in duals) – The Mavs have claimed victory as a team in both cases that they won at the top.
No. 2: Rebecca Osterberg/
Maike Waldburger (7-2, 4-1 in duals)- The duo went 4-1 in Pueblo and have won three straight matches.
No. 3: Carolena Campos/
Lauren Thomas (2-5, 1-2 in duals) – The pair snapped a 4-match slide with a 6-4 win over Newman on Sept. 14.
Singles
No. 1: Kirby (6-1, 5-0 in duals) – Has won five straight and 11 of her last 13 total matches dating back to last year.
No. 2: Alsing (3-3, 2-2 in duals)- Won back-to-back matches on Sept. 13 against Nebraska-Kearney dropping just six total games in four sets.
No. 3: Osterberg (6-3, 3-2 in duals)- Three of her five team matches have been 3-setters. She is 2-1 in those.
No. 4: Campos (2-4, 1-3 in duals)- Is in her first season as a regular in the starting lineup. Was a set and 2-0 up in an unfinished match against Fort Hays State's Grace Holgerson.
No. 5: Waldburger (4-3, 2-2 in duals)- Went 2-2 in Pueblo and claimed a win by default against Fort Hays State, which did not field a full lineup.
No. 6: Thomas (4-5, 2-3 in duals)- Moved in to the No. 5 singles spot against Fort Hays State and claimed a 6-1, 6-3 win over Kimberly Stone. Went 2-1 against Colorado College players at the MSU Denver Invitational.
About the Trailblazers
The Trailblazers went 2-2 at the Pueblo Duals to open the season, playing a similar schedule to the Mavericks. Their wins came over CSU-Pueblo (6-1) and Texas-Permian Basin (4-0). They were defeated by Nebraska-Kearney (4-3) and Dallas Baptist (5-2).
They have posted a cumulative 12-9 record in singles and 8-4 cumulative record in doubles. Megan Lynch and Emma Templeman are 4-0 at No. 2 doubles. Templeman, a freshman, is also a strong 3-1 in singles, playing three matches in the No. 4 spot, where she has gone 3-0. Lynch is also a strong 2-1 in singles, playing at the No. 3 position. She was also a strong 12-2 in singles play last year.
About the Tigers
The Tigers are 0-2 in team matches after playing both Dallas Baptist and Texas-Permian Basin on Sept. 14 at the Pueblo Duals. They fell 6-1 to DBU and 4-0 to the Falcons. Jenna McDonald was the lone singles winner for the Tigers that day defeating DBU's Genie Hernandez at No. 3 singles. She and Tess Rubin also posted a doubles win against Texas-Permian Basin. Rubin also won three straight matches to win the consolation side of the "B" draw at the MSU Denver Invitational, where they also saw the Mavericks.
Series Histories
The Mavericks are 13-8 against Dixie State dating back to the 2008-09 season although the Trailblazers won all four head-to-head meetings with the Mavericks during the 2018-19 season, when the teams were RMAC rivals. Two of those decisions were by 4-3 scores and three of the meetings were in Grand Junction. The Trailblazers also defeated the Mavericks 4-2 in the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament before going on to win the tournament against regular season champion MSU Denver.
The Mavericks are 9-1 against CC since 2008-09 and have won nine straight matches with the Tigers. The lone meeting last year came on Apr. 12 in Colorado Springs, which the Mavericks won dominated 9-0.
Wrapping up the Fall Out West
After this weekend's home matches, the Mavericks will wrap up the fall portion of the season on Oct. 3-5 competing in the ITA West Regional Championships in Azusa, California, a change from previous seasons when they went to the South Central Regional, typically held in Texas.
Independent Path
Although they will compete at the ITA West Regional, the Mavericks will be competing for NCAA Tournament spots out of the South Central Region. Both Maverick squads will be competing as independents as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference no longer sponsors the sport for either gender. That was also the case for the men in 2018-19 but will be a new thing for the Maverick women this season.
