GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After getting their season started with some strong performances at last weekend's MSU Denver Fall Invitational on the individual level, the Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will head to Pueblo and Pueblo City Park this Friday and Saturday to begin the team dual meet portion of their season.
The Mavs will play four matches over two days facing Nebraska-Kearney and Dallas Baptist on Friday at 12:30 and 4:30 p.m., respectively, before taking on Texas-Permian Basin and Fort Hays State on Saturday at 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The Pueblo Duals will be CMU's only dual meet action of the fall season.
Last Time Out
Maverick freshmen
Paige Furin and
Macy Richards both won their respective Back Draw singles brackets while teaming for a perfect 2-0 record in doubles play to help the Maverick women at last weekend's MSU Denver Fall Invitational. Richards went 3-1 overall in the B singles draw while Furin did the same in the C draw.
Issy Coman and
Halle Romero also had a solid doubles tournament as they went 3-0 before defaulting due to injury in the final.
Maike Waldburger also won her first two singles matches in the B draw reaching the main draw semifinals. She and another freshman in
Makenna Livingston also went 2-1 and advanced to the main draw semifinals in the A doubles bracket.
A look at the Lineup
Here is a look at Coach
Dan MacDonald's probable lineup, subject to change, for this weekend's action.
Singles
- Issy Coman
- Maike Waldburger
- Halle Romero
- Macy Richards
- Audrey O'Rear
- Julianna Campos
Exhibitions/Reserves: Paige Furin, Kenna Kelley
Doubles
- Waldburger/Richards
- Coman/Romero
- O'Rear/Furin
The top of the Maverick singles lineup is the same as in 2020-21 as Coman and Waldburger both return to their same spots.
Halle Romero played at No. 4 last year but moves up with the graduation of
Carolena Campos. Her younger sister Julianna also played in the No. 6 spot last year while MacDonald plans to start two freshmen in Richards and O'Rear.
In doubles,
Issy Coman and Romero will renew their partnership in the heart of the Maverick lineup after going 9-8 together last year. An all-freshman duo of
Audrey O'Rear and
Paige Furin is also expected to make their dual debut at No. 3 while the veteran Waldburger is expected to pair with another freshman in Richards, off to a solid start in her collegiate career.
Know your Foes
Nebraska-Kearney
The Lopers will have their first official action of the season this weekend after playing Missouri Western State in a scrimmage on Tuesday. They will play at MSU Denver in Denver on Thursday before playing CSU Pueblo on Friday morning.
In 2020-21, the Lopers went 6-13 overall and 3-5 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association matches while being bounced from the MIAA Tournament in the opening round as the No. 6 seed. They did win their final two regular season matches on the road at Emporia State and Newman.
The Lopers return the core of their lineup from last season with Melissa Becerra returning for sophomore season after playing in the No. 1 singles and doubles spot for much of last season. She went 8-11 overall and 5-10 in the No. 1 singles spot last year while she and now graduated Claire Nela were 8-11 in doubles.
Jazmin Zamorano, who earned Honorable Mention All-MIAA honors at No. 3 singles, also returns for her sophomore campaign after going 5-5 at No. 3 while leading the team with a 9-8 overall record, including a solid 6-2 mark in conference play. She and now senior Pranathi Gannavaram were also a solid 8-6 at No. 3 doubles to earn honorable mention all-conference honors.
Dallas Baptist
The Patriot women had a solid 14-6 season in 2020-21 and went 4-4 in Lone Star Conference action.
Taylor Leslie returns for her senior season after being tabbed as the LSC Player of the Year in 2020-21. She was 18-1 in singles, closing out the year on a 10-match winning streak, and went 14-5 in doubles playing mostly with 2020-21 LSC Senior of the Year and now departed Kate Daugherty. Leslie was also an ITA All-Region and First Team All-LSC honoree.
Adriana Carpenter, another senior, also earned ITA All-Region and All-LSC Honorable Mention accolades last year. She was 14-5 in singles, including a 13-5 record in No. 3 singles, at 13-7 in doubles a year ago, including an 11-5 record with partner Sarah Castleberry, who also returns after a solid freshman campaign.
They started their season this past weekend winning 19 singles and eight doubles matches at the St. Mary's Invitational in San Antonio. Freshman Madison Stafford and Ira Vogelmann both won their respective singles flights.
The Patriots will play Colorado College and MSU Denver before facing the Mavericks.
Texas-Permian Basin
The Falcons are coming off a rough 2021 season which saw them go 4-16 overall and 0-8 in LSC play while dropping each of their last six matches.
Head Coach Stan Anderson did bring in some new talent in Teodora Vrucan from Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who placed third at both the Bosnian National U16 Championships and the Serbian senior team national championships.
Brook Runyan, the Texas 4A State singles champion from Devine High School, also joined the squad, which also now includes Rhea Singh, a transfer from Missouri Western State, who went 5-1 in singles and 5-4 in doubles last year for the Griffins. She re-unites with her sister Anaya Singh, who went 4-4 with Krystal Smith in doubles last year. Smith, now a sophomore, also won three singles matches last season.
The Falcons will play MSU Denver and Colorado College on Friday before facing the Mavs on Saturday morning.
Fort Hays State
The Tigers are coming off a 3-8 season in the spring. They failed to win any of their eight MIAA matches.
However, they did claim a 7-0 home win over NAIA Sterling College at home in Hays, Kansas on Tuesday. They dropped just three total games in the doubles matches and won all six singles matches against the Warriors in straight sets.
The team also played at the Bethany College Invitational on Saturday as Paraguayans Fiorella Mendez, a sophomore, and Maria Paz Diaz, a freshman. went 3-0 to top the A doubles bracket.
Last season, Kylie Aufdengarten led the team with a 6-5 singles record at No. 6 singles and returns this year. Mendez was 3-8 at No. 2 singles behind Stefany Stemmer, who also went 3-8 at the No. 1 position last season. Stemmer also returns.
The Tigers will play CSU Pueblo and MSU Denver before facing the Mavericks.
Series Histories
The Mavericks and Lopers, who used to be Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals of CMU, have had an extensive history. They have faced each other 37 time since 1994. The Lopers have won 21 of those matches and claimed 11 straight wins from 2011-19 until the Mavericks claimed a 5-2 win over the Lopers during an indoor match in Grand Island, Nebraska on Feb. 5 of this calendar year.
Dallas Baptist has won all seven previous meetings with the Mavericks since the rivalry began in 2013, taking a 6-1 decision on Mar. 9 in Grand Junction last spring. The Patriots were also 4-3 victors in the fall of 2019 in Pueblo.
The Mavericks have a 5-1 series lead against Texas-Permian Basin and have won the last four matches. The teams met in Pueblo every fall from 2014-19. The Mavs claimed a 6-1 win on Sept. 13, 2019 in the last match-up.
Maike Waldburger, the lone Maverick hold-over from that day's lineup, won both her singles and doubles match in that team victory.
The Mavericks have dominated the all-time series with Fort Hays State, winning six straight to build a 20-3 series lead. The Mavs had also won 14 straight over their former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals from 2001-22. The teams met nearly every fall since 2006 through 2019. The Mavs won 5-0 in 2019 and had a 7-0 victory in 2018.
Up Next
The Mavericks will have one week off before completing their brief fall season at the ITA West Regional in Fresno, California. That tournament will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
