GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After winning three titles while advancing to the unplayed final in the other during the individual-style MSU Denver Invitational last weekend, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick women's tennis team will begin team play competing against St. Mary's, Lubbock Christian and Fort Hays State in this weekend's Pueblo Duals at the Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex.
The Mavericks will take on St. Mary's, the reigning Lone Star Conference Champions, on Friday at 8:30 a.m. before facing Lubbock Christian and Fort Hays State at 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively on Saturday.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks got their season underway in strong form last weekend, winning three draws at the MSU Denver Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. Sophomore
Makenna Livingston won the A Singles bracket while newcomer
Kristen Thomas took the B draw. Thomas and fellow freshman
Jane Steur also won the B Doubles title. Livingston and
Issy Coman also reached the A doubles final, which ended up not being played after a rash of weather delays on Saturdays delayed the progress of the tournament.
Livingston was 5-0 throughout the weekend, going 3-0 in singles after receiving a first round walk-over win.
Thomas was 4-0 in singles and 6-0 overall.
Steur's lone loss came to Thomas in the semifinals of the Singles B Draw.
As a team, the Mavericks went 12-7 in singles play as Coman,
Paige Furin and
Halle Romero all went 1-1.
The team also combined for four doubles wins in six matches.
A look at the Maverick Lineup
Here is a look at the Mavs' probable lineup for this weekend's duals, as announced by Head Coach
Dan MacDonald. Each player's MSU Denver Invitational record and their 2021-22 season record can be found in parenthesis.
Singles
- Makenna Livingston (3-0; 13-12 in 2021-22)
- Issy Coman (1-1; 4-14 in 2021-22)
- Macy Richards (0-1; 15-15 in 2021-22)
- Halle Romero (1-1; 8-17 in 2021-22)
- Julianna Campos (0-2; 12-14 in 2021-22)
- Paige Furin (1-1; 10-2 in 2021-22)
Others: Kristen Thomas (4-0; Freshman)*, Jane Steur (2-1; Freshman)
*-Expected to be moved into the lineup regularly
Doubles
- Livingston/Coman (2-0)
- Richards/Romero (0-1)
- Furin/Campos (0-1; 3-1 in 2021-22) or Thomas
A Staple in the diet
The Mavericks' trip to Pueblo has been a staple in their fall schedule. CMU has opened the team portion of the season at the Pueblo Duals every year since and including 2014, excluding in the fall of 2020 when the effects of the pandemic thwarted scheduling efforts.
In those seven appearances, the Mavs have posted a combined 14-12 record but have gone just 2-5 in their fall season-opening matches, dropping the last four.
Roadrunner trifecta
Makenna Livingston's three on-court singles victories last weekend all came over opponents from MSU Denver, CMU's biggest tennis rival. Livingston knocked off Kinsey Fields, taking a 10-8 decision in the third-set tie-breaker of the quarterfinal match. The Maverick sophomore then defeated Kambra Roles, 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals of the A Singles draw before claiming a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) win over Isabel Heras in the final.
That victory avenged a dual meet win by Heras on Apr. 1 in the No. 2 singles match in Denver last season.
Fields is a transfer from Division II power Washburn, where she was ranked 29
th nationally in doubles. Roles is a freshman on the Roadrunner roster.
Romero Reaches 50
Halle Romero won her 50
th career match at the MSU Denver Invitational when she knocked off Colorado College's Christina Heffron, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the A Singles draw. Romero, a fourth-year Maverick and redshirt junior is the most experienced Maverick on the current squad and now 20 singles and 30 doubles victories to her credit.
Know your Foe
St. Mary's
The Rattlers amassed six singles and two doubles group titles at the St. Mary's Invitational, which they hosted on Labor Day weekend in San Antonio, Texas. Eight Texas-based teams were involved in the tournament which featured round-robin formats in the various flights and groups.
Four players, including three newcomers in Kyndall Quiroz, Vanessa Rodriguez and Alessia Terlizzli all went undefeated in singles play. Sophomore Callah Preti was also undefeated. Quiroz, a transfer from Midwestern State, and fifth-year senior Ashley Penshorn also won the A doubles flight.
In 2021-22, the Rattlers won their first-ever Lone Star Conference title before advancing to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament. They return seven letterwinners, including fifth-year senior Ashley Penshorn and LSC Tournament MVP Angela Vargas.
The Rattlers were 21-4 overall and 8-1 in the LSC last year. They defeated Midwestern State in the South Central Regional before falling to Flagler in the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
Director Tennis Bill Macom's squad had reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and are a combined 41-10 in dual meets during the three years he has been in charge of the program. Macom also won 193 women's matches in 14 years at Florida Tech from 2005-19 and another 74 in six seasons at Jacksonville from 1994-2000.
About Lubbock Christian
The Lady Chaps began their inaugural season last weekend at the Cameron Invite in Lawton, Oklahoma and combined to win eight singles wins and six doubles matches in the competition.
Maya Adler, Anastasiia Khrustaleva and Taylor Nichols all went 2-1 in singles play. Lauren Shinneman and Anna Turner were 2-1 in doubles for LCU.
LCU's Coach is Jason Speegle, who won seven KCAC conference titles in nine seasons at the NAIA level while coaching Southwestern College in Liberal, Kansas. Eight of his ten women on the roster are freshman while two in Khrustaleva and Nichols are transfers.
Saturday's match-up with the Mavericks will be their fourth and final dual of the weekend. They will have played Colorado College, Nebraska-Kearney and MSU Denver previously.
About Fort Hays State
The Tigers were slated to begin their season last week at the Bethany College Invitational in Lindsborg, Kansas but saw that competition rained out.
They will play MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo on Friday and Saturday morning before taking on the Mavs this weekend.
Last year's Tiger squad went 7-12 overall and 0-8 in MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) matches.
Veteran Coach Brian Flax, in his 27
th year, has just one freshman on his 9-woman roster. The other eight are sophomores and juniors.
Junior Fiorella Mendez led last year's squad with a 12-9 singles record. Fellow Paraguayan Irina Alfonso was the team's top-flight player last year, going 5-7 at No. 1 singles.
Alfonso and Maria Paz Diaz, who also hails from Asuncion, Paraguay, were 5-7 at No. 1 doubles last year as the team's top duo.
Series Histories
The Mavericks have only played St. Mary's once before, dropping a 9-0 decision to Rattlers on Mar. 21, 2015. That match was also played in Pueblo.
CMU has never faced Lubbock Christian, a first year-program, in a dual before.
The Mavs are a dominant 21-3 all-time against Fort Hays State and have won the last seven meetings. The last nine meetings between the teams have come in the fall during the Pueblo Duals. CMU has won eight of those.
The two teams, who used to be Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals, have played every fall since 2014, except for in the fall of 2020, when college sports in general faced major COVID related disruptions.
CMU won last year's match, played on Sept. 18, 2001 by a 6-1 margin. They had posted 7-0 and 5-0 shutouts in 2018 and 2019.
Up Next
After this weekend's team duals, the Mavericks will have a weekend off from competition before returning to individual-style play with the ITA West Regional Championships, that the Mavericks will host from Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Elliott Tennis Center and Canyon View Park.
