IRVINE, Calif.— The Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team was named as the No. 12 seed for this week's Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament and will open up the tournament playing fifth-seeded Fresno Pacific University in the first round on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. local time (10 a.m. Mountain Daylight) at the Surprise Tennis Center in Surprise, Arizona.
The PacWest released the tournament brackets for the 12-team tournament on Monday.
The Mavericks, who went 11-13 overall throughout the season, will be playing the Sunbirds (13-8) for the second time this season. FPU won the regular season match-up by a 7-0 margin on Mar. 21 in Fresno, California.
PacWest Tourney Format
The top four seeds each received first-round byes while the fifth through 12
th seeds will play first-round matches on Wednesday morning in attempts to join the top four in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 1 p.m. Arizona Time (2 p.m. Mountain).
From there, those eight teams will play each day in either championship or consolation bracket matches at the same time each day through Saturday.
The first round losers will play one consolation match on Thursday at 1 p.m. Arizona Time (2 p.m. Mountain) to wrap up their season.
To see the complete bracket,
go here.
The tournament winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the We
st Regional portion of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Three other PacWest teams will be selected for the NCAA Tournament as well, based on the season-long regional rankings.
FPU was ranked fifth in last week's regional rankings.
Last Times Out
On what was their final weekend of the regular season, the Mavericks played their first and only three home matches of the season. The Mavs went 2-1 as a team, dropping a 5-2 decision to MSU Denver on Friday, April 8 before dominating CSU Pueblo and Colorado College by 7-0 scores on the following two days.
The Mavericks honored fourth-year players
Lauren Thomas and
Maike Waldburger during Senior Day festivities before the Sunday, Apr. 10 victory over Colorado College.
The Mavericks won the doubles point in all three duals and went a combined 14-4 in singles play.
Julianna Campos was a perfect 6-0 during the weekend, winning each of her No. 3 doubles matches alongside
Paige Furin before going 3-0 in singles play. She played at No. 4 against CSU Pueblo and at No. 5 in the other two victories.
Hot Streak
The Mavericks enter the PacWest Tournament in their strongest form of the entire season, winning four of their final five regular season duals. They swept the home-and-home series against both Colorado College and CSU Pueblo conceding just one team point in those four duals combined.
Sizzling
Maverick sophomore
Julianna Campos has been on an even hotter ride of results as of late. Campos has won each of her last seven singles matches, improving her overall record to 12-12 and her dual meet record to 11-9.
The Grand Junction native has also won all seven of her doubles matches this spring with partners
Lauren Thomas and
Paige Furin this spring. She is 7-1 in duals and 8-5 overall with the results from the fall included.
PacWest History
The Mavericks are in their second year of affiliate membership in the PacWest. They were the No. 10 seed at last year's tournament and dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 7 seed Academy of Art in the opening round before falling 4-2 to No. 8 seed Hawai'i Hilo in the consolation match.
The Mavs will be looking for their first ever PacWest Tournament win this week.
Conference Tournament History
Without a conference home, the Mavericks would not have had a conference tournament to compete at in 2020, even if they COVID-19 pandemic did not wipe out much of the NCAA tennis season.
In 2019, which was the final year that the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sponsored the sport, the Mavs lost their only official tournament match. However, the Mavericks had gone 1-1 while advancing to the RMAC Tournament final in four consecutive years from 2015-18. The Mavs, who had at least one conference tournament victory in every year from 2010-18, won their last RMAC Tournament title in 2014. The Mavs had also won the 1982 (fall), 2007 and 2011 RMAC Tournament crowns.
PacWest veterans
The Mavericks have five players on their roster who were at last year's PacWest Tournament, all of whom claimed at least one victory last year. Three of the five are expected to be in Coach
Dan MacDonald's lineup this year.
In 2021, the Mavericks won both the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches against Academy of Art before taking both the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches against Hawai'i Hilo.
Julianna Campos was also a No. 6 singles victor over the Vulcans and won two overall matches as a freshman after pairing with
Lauren Thomas to go 1-0 with another unfinished match at No. 3 doubles.
Issy Coman and
Halle Romero were 2-0 at No. 2 doubles last year while
Maike Waldburger paired with 2021 graduate
Carolena Campos for a No. 1 doubles win over the Vulcans.
Expected Lineup
Here is a look at MacDonald's probable lineup for this week's PacWest Tournament.
Doubles
- Makenna Livingston/Macy Richards (8-10 as a duo)
- Maike Waldburger/Halle Romero (4-1 as a duo)
- Julianna Campos/Paige Furin (3-0 as a duo)
(Alternates: Audrey O'Rear/Kenna Kelley)
Singles
- Makenna Livingston (12-12, 9-10 in duals)
- Maike Waldburger (15-15, 12-12 in duals)
- Halle Romero (8-15, 7-12 in duals)
- Macy Richards (14-15, 11-12 in duals)
- Julianna Campos (12-12, 11-9 in duals)
- Paige Furin (9-4, 6-3 in duals)
Alternates (Audrey O'Rear- 4-7; 3-6 in duals) & Kenna Kelley (6-2; 6-2 in duals)
Coaching Milestones
Maverick Head Coach
Dan MacDonald will enter this weekend having won his 250
th career women's match on Mar. 12 when the Mavericks swept Division I Dixie State. He now has 256 career wins and is 256-191 (.573) with the Maverick women. He also 198 victories with the Maverick men and reached the 450 total win mark on Apr. 2 when the Maverick men and women swept Colorado College on Saturday.
Scouting the Sunbirds
The Sunbirds will enter the PacWest Championships with a 13-8 overall record. They have won six out of their last eight but dropped their regular-season finale on Saturday to the Academy of Art, by a 4-3 score. The Sunbirds had defeated 18
th-ranked Biola the day prior, 6-1.
FPU had been ranked fifth in the latest set of NCAA Division II West Regional Rankings and currently on the outside looking in for a potential at-large selection. Biola was ranked second while Academy of Art was sixth.
The Sunbirds' lineup is stout, especially in singles. Their players are a combined 70-37 (.654) in singles matches this spring.
Maria Borodii is ranked 47
th in the latest ITA National Singles Rankings and has posted a 11-9 record in duals this season, while playing in the No. 1 singles spot. Lea Falentin has gone 14-4, playing almost exclusively in the No. 2 spot while Alice DiMatteo sports and 11-5 record at No. 3 and an 11-7 overall dual meet record. She and Falentin have both won their last three matches.
Sanne Brull has also been solid going 14-3 in duals, including a 5-0 record at No. 4. Elise Leik has gone 12-4.
They also have winning doubles records in both of the top two flights, going 10-7 as a team in each. The Sunbirds are a combined 9-9 at No. 3 doubles.
Brull and Di Matteo are 9-4 at No. 2 and 10-5 overall as a duo to pace Head Coach George Rodriguez's doubles units.
Series Histories
The Mar. 21 match in Fresno, which went 7-0 to the Sunbirds, was the only other previous meeting between the Mavs and Sunbirds.
Macy Richards was the lone Maverick to win a set, taking the first of her No. 4 singles match over Alice Marques, 6-4.
Up Next
With a victory on Wednesday, the Mavericks would move on to the quarterfinal round where they would face No. 4 seed Point Loma on Thursday at 1 p.m. Arizona Time (2 p.m. Mountain). The Mavs would then be guaranteed to play two other championship or consolation matches on Friday and Saturday.
With a loss on Wednesday against the Sunbirds, the Mavs would then play the loser of the first round match between Concordia and Hawai'i Hilo, who are the No. 8 and 9 seeds in the tournament, in a consolation match-up on Thursday.
