GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Coming off a 3-0 weekend and riding a 4-match winning streak, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will look to continue their women's tennis success when they head to Denver for a neutral-court all-Pacific West Conference encounter with Hawai'i Hilo on Friday before returning home to host their first dual of the season on Saturday against Colorado College, a team they just defeated by a 9-0 count last week.
 
Now 10-10 overall, the Mavericks will take on the Vulcans after flip-flopping spots with them in the PacWest rankings at 10 a.m. on Friday at MSU Denver's Assembly Athletic Complex.  The Mavericks will then return home to the Elliott Tennis Center to face the Tigers at the same time on Saturday.
 
The CMU men will play the same opponents at the same times.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks were on the front range last week and defeated MSU Denver, 4-3 before dominating Colorado College and CSU Pueblo by 9-0 and 7-0 scores.  The PacWest encounter with fellow affiliate member MSU Denver was originally scheduled for Friday afternoon but was pushed to Saturday morning due to high winds and went to the Mavericks as Halle Romero fought off five match points to win the third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles, 10-8, to clinch what was the Mavs first dual win over MSU Denver in seven years and 15 tries.  She and Makenna Livingston had also defeated Isabel Heras and Kinsey Fields, the 27^th ranked doubles duo in the nation, to help the Mavericks win the doubles point.  The Mavs then won three of the first four singles matches as Macy Richards won a 3-set match at No. 3 before Issy Coman won a pair of tie-breakers at No. 2.
 
Things were much more comfortable at CC on Saturday evening, when the Mavericks won all three doubles matches while winning all six singles affairs, five of them in straight sets, while resting Livingston and Romero and allowing two freshman in Delia Maier and Kristen Thomas to get court time.  The Mavericks were also able to do the same on Sunday morning at CSU Pueblo as the Mavs dropped just ten total games in the entire dual with the ThunderWolves.
 
PacWest Team of the Week
 
Thanks to their 3-0 weekend, including the thriller over conference foe MSU Denver, the Mavericks were named as the PacWest's Women's Tennis Team of the Week on Monday.  The Mavs went a combined 8-0 in doubles matches throughout the weekend and were a combined 15-3 in singles play as Issy Coman and Macy Richards both went 3-0 in the top half of the lineup while partnering up for a 3-0 mark at No. 2 doubles.
 
Up a Spot
 
The Mavs also moved up a spot to ninth in the PacWest rankings that were released for the second time on Wednesday.  Those rankings will eventually determine the qualifiers and seeding for the PacWest Championships, which begin Apr. 19 in Surprise, Arizona.  Twelve of the 15 women's teams in the conference will qualify.
 
Although there are no official conference standings, the rankings, put together by a seeding committee of representatives from all geographical areas of the conference, and are based upon a variety of criteria, including head-to-head results, results amongst common opponents, strength of schedule and records in both PacWest and Division II matches.
 
The rankings will be updated again next week, when the 12 qualifying teams will be announced.  The final seeds will then be determined after all regular season play wraps up on Apr. 15.
 
Hawai'i Pacific, ranked 16th nationally in the ITA's rankings, continues to hold down the conference's top spot ahead of national No. 18 Azusa Pacific.  CUI, ranked 50^th nationally, is third in the conference rankings, while Point Loma retained the No. 4 spot.  Fresno Pacific switched spots with Academy of Art while MSU Denver retained the No. 7 spot despite falling to the Mavericks.  Biola is still eighth while the Mavs switched positions with Hawai'i-Hilo entering Friday's head-to-head match-up. 
 
Dominican and Stanislaus State remain inside the qualification window in 11^th and 12^th, respectively.
 
Winning Streak
 
The Mavericks' 4-match winning streak is the program's longest since beginning the 2021 spring season with six straight wins, a streak the Mavs could match this weekend.
 
Ten wins and the fight for .500
 
The Mavericks' 3-0 weekend also allowed them to reach double figure wins for the third straight year and has put them in position for their first possible winning record since 2016.  The Mavs are now 10-10 after finishing last year with an 11-15 record and then 2021 season with a 12-13 mark.
 
CMU did finish the 2019-20 COVID-shortened season with an 8-8 mark but have not finished above .500 since going 16-13 and winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regular Season title in 2015-16.
 
First Home Match
 
Saturday's match with Colorado College will be the Mavs' first home dual of the entire season and will be their first competitive action at the Elliott Tennis Center.  The Mavs did play host to the ITA West Regional in the fall, but the women played their action at Canyon View Park before moving inside to the Grand Junction Tennis Center bubble for the later rounds on a rainy weekend.
 
The Mavs will also be at home next Saturday for duals against CSU Pueblo and MSU Denver but have been road warriors throughout the season traveling to Nebraska, Arizona, Utah, Colorado's front range and two California twice earlier this spring.
 
CMU went 2-1 in home duals last April.
 
Know Your Foes
 
Hawai'i Hilo (Friday, Apr. 7 – 10 a.m. – Denver)
 
The Vulcans will begin a 3-match swing in Colorado taking on the Mavericks in Denver at MSU Denver's courts before later playing the Roadrunners and CSU Pueblo.  The Vulcans are currently 6-7 and are coming off a pair of 7-0 home wins over Chaminade, ranked last in the PacWest, on Saturday.  They were scheduled to play conference leading Hawai'i Pacific on Sunday but that match was canceled due to inclement weather.
 
The Vulcans are a perfect 6-0 against teams below them in the PacWest rankings but are 0-6 against the top half of the conference.
 
McKenna Mountain and Hikari Osaki have the Vulcans' top singles records at 8-4 in the middle of fifth-year head coach Kallen Mizuguchi's lineup.  Akari Ichikawa is 4-9 overall and has played all but one match in the No 1 spot while Julia Barden is 6-6, including a 4-5 mark at No. 2.
 
Ichikawa is 5-6 in doubles with three different partners while Osaki Is right behind with a 5-7 mark.
 
Last year's Vulcan squad went 6-11 overall finishing eighth in the PacWest Championships with a 1-3 record.
 
Colorado College (Saturday, Apr. 8 – 10 a.m. - Grand Junction)
 
The Tigers dropped to 3-7 overall last week after being blanked by the both the Mavericks in Colorado Springs on Saturday evening at MSU Denver on Sunday.  The Division III squad did get a No. 3 doubles win from Elizabeth Girian and Malia Rivera on Sunday but were unable to win the doubles point under the Division II 7-point format in Denver after playing the Division III 9-point format on Saturday against the Mavs.
 
Christina Heffron has the best singles record on the team at 5-2 at No. 1 but did not appear in either of last week's duals while also missing out in a 5-4 loss at Linfield on Mar. 26.  She did win her previous five starts.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavs and Vulcans have met just twice before.  The last meeting came on Apr. 22, 2021 in the consolation round of the PacWest Championships, a match that the Vulcans won 4-2 despite dropping the doubles point.  The only other previous meeting was on Feb. 16, 2008, when the Vulcans won a 9-0 neutral-court decision in Phoenix.
 
After last week's win, the Mavericks have now won 15 straight duals against Colorado College since 2012.  They lead the all-time series 19-11.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will wrap up the regular season next Saturday (Apr. 15) hosting both CSU Pueblo and MSU Denver at the Elliott Tennis Center.  They will take on the ThunderWolves at 10 a.m. before facing the Roadrunners at 2 p.m.  Senior Day festivities will be held prior to that match, at 1:15 p.m.
 
Earlier in week, the Mavericks will expect to receive confirmation that they have been selected for a third straight PacWest Championships, assuming they hold on to a top 12 position in next week's conference rankings.