GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will resume the season, this weekend as they travel to St. George, Utah for three matches at the Trailblazer Invitational, hosted by former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Dixie State University.
 
Competing for the first time since Feb. 1-2, when they faced Lewis-Clark State and Idaho State in their spring-season openers, the Mavericks will begin this weekend with a Friday afternoon match at future NCAA Division I institution Dixie State.  Action is slated to commence at 2 p.m. at the Dixie State Tennis Courts.
 
They then continue the weekend in St. George with two neutral-site matches at cross-town Tonaquint Park, where they will play Holy Names at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Western New Mexico at 9 a.m., Sunday.
 
Last time on the courts
 
The Mavericks started the spring three weeks ago in northern Utah and southern Idaho.  After playing an exhibition match against NCAA Division I and Big Sky Conference opponent Weber State in Ogden, Utah on Jan. 31, the Mavericks went on to split two matches in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
On Feb. 1, the Mavericks claimed a 5-2 win over NAIA opponent Lewis-Clark State in Idaho State University's Reed Gym.  The Mavericks then dropped a 6-1 decision to the host Bengals, also a Big Sky Conference member on the following day (Feb. 2).
 
CMU performed well against the Lewis-Clark State Warriors, posting five wins in the singles matches including the first completed affairs after dropping two out of the three doubles matches.
 
Kristen Kirby was the only Maverick to win both of her matches against the Warriors winning her no. 1 singles match in identical 6-2 straight set.  She also won her No. 1 doubles match with partner Laura Alsing by the same 6-2 score.
 
Kirby and sophomore teammate Maike Waldburger were the only CMU players to win multiple matches on the road trip to Idaho.  Waldburger won both of her singles matches in the No. 5 spot of the lineup defeating Kyla Collier of Lewis-Clark State in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) before defeating Megan Poe of Idaho State in three sets (4-6, 6-0, 10-8) to score CMU's lone point against the Bengals.
 
The weekend split left the Mavericks with a 5-4 overall dual-meet record.
 
Piling up the Matches
 
Maverick senior Kristen Kirby has now played over 100 matches in both singles and doubles play throughout her consistent and stellar Maverick career.  Already one of the most decorated Mavericks in the history of the program, Kirby has now played 102 singles matches and 101 doubles encounters throughout her 4-year career.  She is now 63-39 in singles and 52-49 in doubles and has earned the maximum six First Team All-RMAC honors in the first three years of her career, amongst other honors.
 
In 2019-20, Kirby has been stellar posting an 8-1 record at No. 1 singles and leads the team in overall singles wins with 10.  Her lone dual meet loss was to Division I Idaho State.
 
Sophomore Sensation
 
CMU sophomore Maike Waldburger is having a very successful season so far as she has collected a team-high 19 victories including ten singles wins and nine triumphs in doubles play with partner Rebecca Osterberg.
 
With a majority of the season still remaining, Waldburger has already surpassed her freshman year win total of 18.
 
The Maverick lineup
 
Based on how they were deployed in the first two matches of the spring, her is a look at the lineup Head Coach Dan MacDonald may put out this weekend.
 
Doubles
No. 1: Laura Alsing/Kristen Kirby (5-7, 4-5 in duals)
No. 2: Rebecca Osterberg/Maike Waldburger (9-5, 6-3 in duals)
No. 3: Carolena Campos/Lauren Thomas (4-8, 3-5 in duals)
 
Singles
No. 1: Kirby (10-3, 8-1 in duals)
No. 2: Alsing (4-8, 3-5 in duals)
No. 3: Osterberg (9-6, 6-3 in duals)
No. 4: Campos (4-8, 3-5 in duals)
No. 4: Waldburger (10-5, 6-2 in duals)
No. 6: Thomas (7-8, 4-5 in duals)
 
Independent Path in the South Central
 
The Maverick women are in their first year as independents as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference no longer sponsors women's tennis.  The Maverick men also played as independents in 2018-19 and are doing so again this year.
 
Although they competed at the ITA West Regionals, the Mavericks will compete for a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament out of the South Central Region once again this year.  The region, which will qualify four teams for the NCAA Tournament, including the Lone Star Conference Tournament Champions as automatic qualifiers, is made up of 16 women's tennis playing institutions.  Twelve of those are in the expanded LSC, which merged with the now defunct Heartland Conference this season.  The region also includes CMU's former RMAC rivals CSU-Pueblo, Dixie State and MSU Denver, who like the Mavericks are all playing independent schedules this year.  The Mavs will play each of those teams twice this spring and claimed a fall win over Dixie State.
 
They have ten total matches on the spring slate against in-region opponents.
 
They will also play six other NCAA Division II opponents throughout the spring, including five matches that will count toward their "in-region" record due to the NCAA's contiguous state policies.
 
All three of this weekend's encounters will count on that in-region record.
 
In the fall, the Mavericks went 2-1 against true regional foes while posting a 3-3 "in-region" record, which included a win over Fort Hays State and losses to Nebraska-Kearney and Newman during the fall.
 
Challenging Schedule
 
This spring, the Mavericks will play five matches ranked amongst the top 10 of the pre-spring Oracle/ITA Division II South Central Regional rankings, which were announced on Jan. 15.   Although they have no official ramifications towards NCAA Tournament selection, it is a good indicator of how tough the Mavericks' schedule will be this spring.
 
The Mavericks will take on top-ranked Angelo State, No. 3 MSU Texas, No. 6 MSU Denver (twice) and No. 9 Cameron.  They also played No. 7 Dallas Baptist in the fall.
 
Nebraska-Kearney, one of the only other two teams to have defeated the Mavericks in the fall, is ranked ninth in the Central Region, according to the ITA.
 
Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific, who are third and ninth, respectively, in the ITA's West Regional Rankings and Southwest Baptist, the No. 2 team in the Midwest Region, are also on the Mavs' challenging spring schedule.
 
In total, the Mavs have a total of nine matches against regionally-ranked opponents on their 2019-20 schedule.  Five of those are also nationally-ranked foes in No. 13 Azusa Pacific, No. 14 Angelo State, No. 15 MSU Texas, No. 19 Southwest Baptist, and No. 23 Fresno Pacific, according to the latest ITA National Rankings, which were announced on Wednesday (Feb. 19).
 
Road Warriors
 
The Mavericks' 2020 spring schedule, which includes 20 official matches will see the student-athletes play in five different states, including Colorado. 
 
They will travel to Utah (twice), Idaho, Texas and California before playing each of their last seven matches inside Colorado.
 
The Mavericks will have 10 total matches as the away team and will play seven other matches on neutral courts.  They are now 3-3 in neutral-site matches this year and have played just once so far as the true away team.  CMU can improve both records when they drive on I-70 and I-15 to St. George.
 
CMU will have just one home weekend hosting fellow independents MSU Denver, CSU-Pueblo and Dixie State during the CMU Dual Tournament on Apr. 17-18.  The Mavs were 2-0 at home in the fall defeating Dixie State and Colorado College, teams they will play on the road this spring.
 
About the Trailblazers
 
The Dixie State University Trailblazers dropped both of their spring season exhibitions earlier this month falling to Weber State and Boise State by 7-0 scores in Ogden, Utah on Feb. 7 and 8.
 
They will now host Colorado Mesa, Western New Mexico and former Pac-West rival Holy Names this weekend.
 
DSU went 3-3 in the fall and faced CMU at the Elliott Tennis Center in Grand Junction on Sept. 27. In that match, the Trailblazers picked up two singles wins after the Mavericks took the doubles point by winning two out of the three doubles affairs en-route to the 5-2 overall victory.
 
They picked up the win at No. 1 doubles from Isabel Heras and Juliana Honczaruk and received singles wins from Megan Lynch and Honczaruk at the No. 4 and 6 positions, respectively.
 
Honczaruk, Lynch and Emma Templeman all won four singles matches throughout the fall.  Lynch and Templeman also were a strong 5-1 at the No. 2 doubles spot.  Their lone loss came to CMU's duo of Rebecca Osterberg and Maike Waldburger.
 
Since 2009, the Mavericks lead the all-time series 14-8.  The Trailblazers won all four meetings during the 2018-19 season although the Mavericks won in their last meeting during the fall of this 2019-20 campaign. 
 
About the Hawks
 
The Holy Name Hawks, based out of Oakland, California, enter the weekend with a 1-2 overall record after picking up their first win by a 6-1 score last Friday (Feb. 14) at NCAA Division III Mills College after beginning their season with losses to Sonoma State and Academy of Art.
 
In the victory over Mills, who fielded just five players, the Hawks captured all three doubles matches and five of the singles battles as well.
 
This will be the fourth time that Colorado Mesa and Holy Names will face each other on the court since 2013.  The Hawks won the last meeting by a tight 4-3 margin on Feb. 17, 2019 in Fresno, California after the Mavericks, who lead the series 2-1, won earlier neutral-site encounters in 2018 and 2013.
 
About the Mustangs
 
The Mustangs will enter this weekend with an 3-0 record this spring after sweeping a Feb. 14-15 weekend in Surprise and Phoenix, Arizona. Defeating Ottawa University, Mesa Community College and Arizona Christian, the Mustangs lost just one team point throughout the swing.
 
The last time these two teams played each other was last year also down in St. George where the Mustang were victorious in a close 4-3 neutral-site decision.
 
The Mavericks lead the head-to-head series 11-7 since 2009.  The last four match-ups have all been on neutral-courts and have been split 2-2.  The teams also played in St. George in 2019 as the Mustangs claimed a narrow 4-3 decision.
 
Up Next
 
After one weekend off, the Mavericks will stay on the road as they head to Wichita Falls, Texas for the Midwestern State Duals, where they will face three nationally-ranked opponents in as many days.  They will also face regionally-ranked Cameron in the second part of a Mar. 6 doubleheader that begins with a morning match against host and No. 15 MSU Texas.