GRAND ISLAND, Neb.— The Colorado Mesa University women's team went deep into Friday night and early Saturday morning as they got off to their first 2-0 start since the fall of 2016, posted a pair of 5-2 wins at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Indoor Tournament here inside the Grand Island Tennis Center.
The Mavericks defeated Oklahoma Baptist in their season-opener and then downed the host Lopers for the first time since 2011 in a match that went past midnight.
CMU 5, Oklahoma Baptist 2
The Mavericks swept the three doubles matches and received two singles wins from freshman, making their collegiate debuts to down the Bison in CMU's 2021-opener, 5-2.
Freshman
Issy Coman, playing in the No. 1 position for both singles and doubles, teamed with
Maike Waldburger for a 7-5 win over Jenna Noel and Vera Gak in doubles before squeaking out a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Lin Xin Tan in singles as the Mavericks took a 2-1 overall lead that they would not relinquish.
Meanwhile, fellow freshman
Julianna Campos provided the clinching point, when she beat Rylie Helm at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-1 after she had teamed with older sister Carolena for a 6-3 No. 2 doubles win over Tan and Gabrielly Lamas.
Carolena Campos also won her No. 3 singles match over Gak, 7-6, 6-2.
Alexi Klabunde also went 2-0 in the dual as she overcame a first set loss to defeat Elyce Clark at No. 6 singles, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9) after partnering with
Halle Romero for a 6-3 win over Clark and Helm in the third doubles match.
Noel and Lamas were the two winners for the Bison (0-2), who had dropped a 6-1 decision to Nebraska-Kearney earlier in the day.
CMU 5, Nebraska-Kearney 2
Using the same lineup, the Mavericks showed their depth to record their first win over the Lopers in 12 tries, a span that had dated back to the 2011 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Campos sisters won their No. 2 doubles match by a 6-4 score over Mia Sherikulova and Jazmin Zamorano while Romero and Klabunde knocked off Thi Huynh and Pranathi Gannavaram, 6-1 in the No. 3 doubles match to give CMU the doubles point despite a No. 1 doubles defeat.
The Mavericks then extended their lead to 2-0 as Romero downed Claire Neil, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. Waldburger then contributed a key 10-7 tie-breaker win in the No. 2 singles match over Melisa Becerra to make the score 3-1 after
Carolena Campos was downed at No. 3 singles.
Coman lost by the same margin in her tiebreaker with Sherikulova at No. 1 as the Lopers tightened the dual.
However, Klabunde and
Julianna Campos delivered wins in the last two flights to seal the Maverick victory. Klabunde, who was 4-0 throughout the day, bested Huynh, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6 singles while Campos edged Gannavaram by identical 6-4 scores in the No. 5 singles affair. The Grand Junction freshman also went 4-0 in her debut.
The Mavericks will get a few hours of sleep before resuming the tournament on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. CST (7 a.m. MST) against Hastings College.
