GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will put its perfect 6-0 start on the line this Saturday when the Mavericks travel to Pocatello, Idaho to face NCAA Division I Idaho State (2-2) for a doubleheader in the Bengals' Reed Gym.
The teams will face off at 10 a.m. and again at 4 p.m.
A live stream of both matches can be seen on the
Bengals' live stream page.
CMU's men will also be on the road for matches at Division I Utah State on Saturday and Weber State on Sunday.
6-0 start
The Mavericks are off to a 6-0 for the first time in program history after claiming Saturday (Feb. 13) wins over Western New Mexico and Arizona Christian last Saturday and another last Friday (Feb. 12) against Ottawa (Ariz.).
On the initial weekend (Feb. 5-6) of the season, the Mavericks claimed wins over Oklahoma Baptist, Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings (Neb.) in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Before Saturday, the Mavericks had last started 5-0 in 2009 en-route to a 17-9 overall season but had never reached 6-0 to begin a season.
PacWest honor
Maverick redshirt freshman Halle Romero was named as the initial PacWest Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon. It is the first such PacWest honor for the Mavericks, who joined the league as affiliate members this season in the sports of men's and women's tennis.
Romero is perfect 6-0 in doubles player this year and holds a 5-1 No. 4 singles mark, winning each of her last five matches in straight sets without giving up more than three games in any of them.
Doubles Dominance
The Mavericks have on the doubles point in all six matches this year and have combined for a 15-2 match record in doubles play this year. The Mavs are a perfect 6-0 in both the No. 2 and 3 flights and have five different individuals who are unbeaten in doubles play. All seven Mavericks who have played so far in 2021 have winning doubles records.
Senior
Carolena Campos leads that group with a 6-0 mark and has played five of her matches in the No. 2 position. Three of those victories have come alongside her freshman sister Julianna. The Campos sisters also had a key No. 3 doubles win in a tiebreaker (7-2) on Saturday against Western New Mexico allowing CMU to seize the early 1-0 lead in the overall dual. They are 4-0 as a partnership.
Halle Romero (5-0),
Julianna Campos (4-0),
Alexi Klabunde (4-0) and
Lauren Thomas (3-0) are all undefeated in doubles play as well.
Perfect at the bottom
The Mavericks are also a perfect 10-0 singles in the No. 5 and 6 rungs combined.
Julianna Campos and Thomas are both 3-0 in the No. 5 position while Klabunde has a 3-0 mark in the sixth flight. Campos also is 1-0 at No. 6 singles and received another win by forfeit on Saturday against Arizona Christian, which could field a lineup of just five players. Campos was also leading Friday's No. 6 singles affair against Ottawa's Mitzy Rangel, 6-2, 4-1 when that match went unfinished after the Mavericks clinched the team win, 4-0.
First two of four
Saturday's matches with Idaho State will be the first two of four against NCAA Division I opponents this season. Three of those will be against Big Sky Conference foes. The Mavericks are also slated to host Weber State from the Big Sky on Mar. 19 at the Elliott Tennis Center and will head to Dixie State, a former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival, who is now in the Division I and Western Athletic Conference ranks, on Mar. 27.
Nearing 50
Maverick redshirt sophomore
Maike Waldburger is nearing the 50 career-victory mark and will enter Saturday with 47 career wins to her credit and a chance to reach the milestone against the Bengals. She is 24-29 in doubles player throughout her 2-plus season career and holds a 23-23 mark in singles.
In 2021, Waldburger is playing in the top doubles flight with freshman
Issy Coman this season and has been playing in the No. 2 singles position behind Coman. Waldburger, a naïve of Wessel, Germany, has a winning 3-2 record in both singles and doubles play so far this year.
Redshirt senior
Carolena Campos is second amongst active players in career wins with 38, evenly split 19-19 between singles and doubles.
About Idaho State
The Bengals will enter Saturday's doubleheader with a 2-2 overall record. They have wins at Utah State (4-3; Jan. 31) and against NAIA Lewis-Clark State (7-0 on Sunday) in Boise, Idaho and have dropped matches away matches at Utah (0-7) and Boise State (2-5) so far this spring.
Saturday's encounters will be their first at home.
Hana Cho leads the team in singles wins with three and moved up to the No. 1 singles position to claim victory on Sunday against Lewis-Clark State. Freshman Sisters Lola and Sol O'Lideadha are 3-1 in doubles and have won three straight matches. They are 2-1 in the third flight and also posted a 6-0 No. 1 doubles win on Sunday.
Series History
The Mavericks and Bengals have only played each other twice previously. The last meeting came on Feb. 2, 2020 in Pocatello when ISU posted a 6-1 win. That was the first meeting in 18 years after ISU had won a Mar. 18, 2002 encounter in Flagstaff, Arizona by a 7-2 score.
Waldburger posted CMU's lone match win last year against the Bengals, winning in three sets against Megan Poe at No. 5 singles.
Up Next
After this Saturday's doubleheader, the Mavericks will take next week off as they will prepare for their first-ever PacWest matches when they travel to southern California to face Concordia-Irvine, Azusa Pacific and Biola on Mar. 5 and 6.
