GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Hot off a pair of wins over Division I competition, the Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will continue their roles as road warriors as they head to California for four matches in as many days against fellow Pacific West Conference foes.
 
The Mavs begin what has become an annual Spring Break tradition of heading to the Golden State on Saturday when they face nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific University in Azusa.  They will then head to Fresno for their next three matches playing at Fresno Pacific University's Haak Tennis Complex on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  They will take on the host Sunbirds on Monday in the second of those two affairs and will take on Holy Names and Dominican in neutral-court match-ups on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively.
 
The Mavs (6-8 overall) have yet to play at home this season.  They are currently 3-2 in neutral-court battles and are 3-6 as an away team.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks claimed a pair of 4-3 wins over Division I Dixie State in a interdivisional doubleheader last Saturday (Mar. 12) in St. George, Utah.
 
All eight Mavericks in action throughout the day claimed wins as the Division II Mavs snapped a 4-match overall slide.
 
Freshman Makenna Livingston led the way with three total victories, including the afternoon dual clincher.  Julianna Campos also won both of her singles affairs.
 
In the morning dual win, the Mavericks dropped the doubles point but rallied to claim four singles wins as Maike Waldburger pulled out a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles to seal the victory.  Livingston and fellow freshman Macy Richards had also claimed dominant singles wins as they dropped just three combined games in straight-set wins at No. 2 and 5, respectively.  Those victories put the Mavericks ahead 2-1.
 
After the Trailblazers tied the dual score at 2 with a No. 4 singles win, Campos then won her No. 6 singles match to put the Mavericks up for good while setting up Waldburger for the clincher.
 
In the afternoon, the Mavericks were able to win the doubles point as Waldburger and Paige Furin won by a 6-3 margin at No. 3 after Livingston and Richards had won by the same scoreline in the top flight.
 
However, the Trailblazers came back to win the first two completed singles matches before Kenna Kelley won at No. 6 singles to level the dual at 2.
 
Campos then won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 before Waldburger went down in the No. 2 match.
 
However, Livingston then claimed a first set tie-breaker by a 7-2 margin before posting a 6-3 second-set win to clinch the dual.
 
The Ultimate Assistant
 
Long-time Maverick assistant coach David Smith took charge of the women's team in St. George as Maverick Head Coach Dan MacDonald remained at home to lead the men's team to victory in their Friday afternoon dual against PacWest foe Fresno Pacific.
 
Smith then guided the Mavs to the victories over Dixie State, which are credited to MacDonald's career record under NCAA policies.  The morning win over the Trailblazers allowed MacDonald to reach the 250-win milestone for his career.
 
MacDonald is now 251-186 (.574) in women's duals during his 17 years with the Mavs.  He also has 196 men's dual victories to his credit and enters the trip to California just three wins shy of 450 overall career wins.
 
First in six years
 
Saturday's wins over Dixie State were the Mavs' first over an NCAA Division I opponent in more than six years.  CMU had last claimed a win over a Division I foe on Feb. 19, 2016 when they defeated Southern Utah by a 4-3 score.  That match was also played in St. George, Utah.
 
A big conference weekend
 
The Mavericks' efforts in this upcoming trip will be big for their PacWest Championship qualification hopes and potential tournament seeding.  The Mavericks are currently 0-3 against PacWest foes and have six remaining "conference" matches remaining.  All of CMU's matches against fellow PacWest foes are technically non-conference affairs as the PacWest does not have a mandated conference regular season schedule nor keep official regular season conference standings.
 
However, the results against them will weigh heavily in the selection and seeding process for the Apr. 20-23 conference championship tournament, which will include 12 of the 15 women's teams in the league as determined by a conference seeing committee at the end of the regular season.
 
After this week's trip, the Mavs will play in-state rival and fellow PacWest affiliate member MSU Denver in a home-and-home series in April facing the Roadrunners in Denver on Apr. 1 before hosting them on Apr. 8.
 
In the poll
 
The Mavericks were tabbed 11^th out of the 15 teams in the Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Poll, which was announced last week.  The Mavericks are in their second season as affiliate members of the PacWest.  They went 12-13 overall and participated in their first PacWest Championships last spring.
 
The Mavs' opponents this week were picked second (Asuza Pacific), seventh (Fresno Pacific) , 13^th (Dominican) and 14^th (Holy Names).
 
Scouting the Azusa Pacific Cougars (Saturday – 3:30 p.m. MDT/2:30 p.m. Pacific)
 
The Cougars will enter Saturday's match ranked 19^th in the latest Division II Women's ITA National Team Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point.  Those rankings were released on Thursday.  They had been ranked 14^th in the previous set (Mar. 10).
 
The Cougars went 3-1 during the week in between claiming 7-0 wins over Southwest Minnesota State and Hawai'i Hilo and a 4-1 win over Washburn.  They then fell 6-1 to former No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific.
 
Now 8-5 overall, the Cougars host new No. 7 Indianapolis on Friday morning before turning their attention back to the PacWest for Saturday's encounter with the Mavericks.  They are 5-2 at home at are in the midst of an 11-match home stand that runs through Apr. 2 at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.
 
They have won six of nine matches against PacWest foes.
 
The Cougars have two nationally-ranked singles players in No. 3 Eleonora Liga and No. 37 Madison Kane.
 
Liga, who hails from Italy, has an impressive 11-1 dual record at No. 1 while Kane has gone 7-2 at No. 2.
 
The Cougars have been vulnerable in the middle half of their lineup going just over .500 (18-17) in the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots but have solid as of late at No. 6 as Katherine Nguyen has won four straight matches to post a 5-3 mark in that spot and a 7-4 overall dual record in singles.
 
Liga was ranked first in the ITA's West Region rankings after the fall while Kane was seventh.  Carolyn Brooner was 16^th and is 5-5 at No. 3 singles this spring.
 
The Cougars are a combined 18-15 in doubles matches this spring.  Kane has an 8-5 record while Liga has an 8-3 record.  They are 6-2 together in the top flight.
 
Scouting the Holy Names Hawks (Sunday – 2 p.m. MDT/1 p.m. Pacific)
 
The Hawks are currently 2-6 overall and have lost four straight since claiming their last win on Feb. 19 at American River College.  They have managed just one point in their last four losses, three of which have come to PacWest foes in Dominican, Biola and Point Loma.  They also dropped 7-0 scores at Stanislaus State and Academy of Art back in February and will play Fresno Pacific before Sunday's neutral-court encounter with the Mavs.
 
Scouting the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (Monday – 5:30 p.m. MDT/4:30 p.m. Pacific)
 
The Sunbirds are currently 6-4 overall and 4-4 against PacWest foes this spring.  They are ranked 46^th in this week's ITA National Rankings and have won three of their last four.  They last played against then No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific on Mar. 9 falling 4-0 in San Francisco but begin a busy stretch on Friday playing four matches in as many days, a stretch that wraps up against the Mavs.
 
They play cross-town and Division I rival Fresno State on Friday before taking on Holy Names.  They then play another Division I match against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Sunday.
 
Lea Falentin is ranked 24^th in the ITA's national singles rankings and has gone 7-3 in duals this spring, posting a 7-2 mark at No. 2.  She also had one No. 1 start in place of Maria Borodii, who has gone 7-2 at No. 1 and 7-3 overall this spring. 
 
Borodii was ranked 13^th in the West Region by the ITA at the end of the fall while Falentin was slotted 19^th.
 
Sanne Brull and Elise Leik also has a strong 7-2 singles records this spring, playing mostly at No. 5 and 6, respectively.
 
They are a combined 15-10 in completed doubles matches this spring.  Leik is 6-3 and has gone 5-2 with Alice Marques at No. 3.  Brull is 5-2 having played mostly alongside Alice Di Matteo in the No. 2 spot.
 
Borodii and Leik were ranked tenth as a doubles pair after the fall but have played together just once this spring.
 
Scouting the Dominican Penguins (Tuesday – 2:30 p.m. MDT/1:30 p.m. Pacific)
 
The Penguins are currently 5-4 and will play at Stanislaus State on Saturday in Turlock, California and against American River College at home in San Rafael on Sunday before heading to Fresno to face the Mavericks.
 
They have won four of their last five but are just 2-4 against PacWest opponents this spring.
 
Zoe Coggins, Audrey Rafols and Julia Rydel all had 4-2 singles records heading into the Penguins' last match against Holy Names on Mar. 6.  Individual statistics from that 6-1 Penguin victory are not available.
 
Rafols has been playing in the top flight and was ranked 11^th in the West Region at the end of the fall, according to the ITA.  She is ranked 31^st in the latest ITA national singles rankings.
 
She and Gina Dudley were sixth in the regional rankings as a doubles duo and have gone 3-2 in the top doubles flight this spring.  Coggins and Rydel are 5-3 together this spring, playing in all three flights but primarily at No. 2.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are 0-5 all-time against Asuza Pacific with all five previous meetings having come in Azusa.  The Cougars won last year's match on Mar. 6 by a 7-0 score and did not drop a set.
 
The Mavs are 3-1 against Holy Names.  All four of those matches have come on neutral-courts, including a 6-1 Maverick victory against the short-handed Hawks in the last meeting on Feb. 21, 2020, which was played in St. George, Utah.  The Hawks' lone win came in Fresno back on Mar. 17, 2019.
 
In the 2020 victory, current Maverick Waldburger won her No. 5 singles match while Halle Romero won her No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles match by default as the Hawks only fielded a lineup of five.
 
The Maverick women have never played Fresno Pacific previously.
 
CMU defeated Dominican by a 5-2 score in the only previous meeting with the Penguins.  That came on Mar. 12 of last season and was played indoors in Englewood, Colorado.  Current Mavericks Issy Coman, Waldburger, Romero and Julianna Campos were all singles winners for the Mavs on that day after the Mavericks had claimed two of the three doubles matches as well.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will have the second weekend of spring break off before resuming their season on the first three days of April when they head across the Rocky Mountains to Colorado's front range.  They begin the stretch on Friday, Apr. 1 with a PacWest match at MSU Denver before heading to play Division III Colorado College on Saturday, Apr. 2 and CSU-Pueblo on Sunday, Apr. 3.  The Mavs will then wrap up the regular season hosting the same three foes in their only home matches of the year between Apr. 8-10.