GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After claiming two key Pacific West Conference wins during their spring break to California, the Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will look for another when they host Stanislaus State in their first home match of 2024 on Monday afternoon.
The 9-11 Mavericks and 2-10 Warriors, ranked 11
th and 12
th, respectively in the first set of PacWest rankings, will play each other for just the second time in their histories.
First serves are slated for 2 p.m. at the Elliott Tennis Center.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks went on a 4-day, 5-match swing through California, compiling a 2-3 record against fellow PacWest foes on their spring break trip from Mar. 18-21. The Mavs started the trip with a 5-1 win at Cal State LA and then added a 6-1 triumph over Westmont two days later in Santa Barbara after falling 6-1 to Hawai'i Hilo in a neutral-site match-up on Tuesday, Mar. 19 in Azuza.
The Mavs were then defeated 4-0 by both Fresno Pacific and Dominican as they wrapped up the trip in Fresno last Thursday (Mar. 21).
The Mavs posted a 9-14 singles record and were a solid 8-6 in doubles play throughout the trip.
Delia Maier and
Kristen Thomas went 4-1 at No. 3 doubles while Maier was 2-1 in singles play.
Issy Coman and
Makenna Livingston also went 3-2 in the top doubles flight. Coman was 2-2 in her completed singles matches.
Devyn Rodriguez also picked up a pair of singles victories at No. 3 and teamed with
Julianna Campos for a doubles victory.
Complete recaps and results of each day's worth of action can be found below…
PacWest Rankings
The PacWest released its first set of tennis rankings on Wednesday, which see both the Mavericks and Warriors just inside the top 12, which is what it will take to qualify for next month's PacWest Tournament.
CMU is ranked 11
th while Stanislaus State 12
th.
The Mavs' two PacWest wins have come over 13
th-ranked Cal State LA and 14
th-ranked Westmont. Another win over Stanislaus State would likely seal the Mavs' fourth straight PacWest Tournament qualification since joining the league as affiliate members for the sports of men's and women's tennis in the 2020-21 season.
The rankings are put together by a conference committee of PacWest school administrators, two from each geographical pod, who weigh a combination of factors (listed below) to compile the rankings, which will ultimately determine which 12 women's teams will qualify for the conference tournament.
Another week of play will then finalize the 1-12 seeding for the Apr. 17-20 tournament in Surprise, Arizona.
The next set of rankings are due to be released on Wednesday, Apr. 3.
The committee also ranked the ten men's teams, eight of whom will qualify for the conference championship. The Maverick men are just outside that top eight in ninth.
PacWest Ranking Criteria
The committee shall review the criteria below, placing more weight on the criteria noted at the top of the list.
- Head to head records
- Results versus common NCAA DII opponents
- Win-loss record versus NCAA DII opponents
- Opponents' winning percentage
- Win-loss record versus PacWest opponents
- Opponents' winning percentage versus PacWest opponents
- Scores of matches against NCAA DII common opponents
Homecoming
After making trips to Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Utah and another to California this spring, the Mavericks will finally get to play at home for the first time in 2024 on Monday.
The Mavericks did have one home fall match, dispatching of CSU Pueblo by a 7-0 score to end the fall season on Sept. 30.
The Mavs will be in the state of Colorado for the rest of the regular season, heading to the front range next weekend for Apr. 5 and Apr. 7 match-ups at MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo.
The Mavs will then play three more home matches on the following weekend (Apr. 12-13) hosting CSU Pueblo, Colorado College and MSU Denver. They were scheduled to also play at Colorado College on Apr. 6 but have canceled that match as the Tigers were unable to squeeze in that date under their NCAA Division III scheduling limitations.
Although the number of home matches has been limited in recent years, the Mavericks have won their last six home contests, going 3-0 last season and winning their second and third home contests of a 2-1, 2022 home season.
Know Your Foe
Stanislaus State, which hails from Turlock, California, will begin a 3-match swing through Colorado against the Mavericks and is currently 2-10. The Warriors have a 1-5 mark against PacWest foes having defeated Cal State LA by a 4-0 margin in Fresno last Saturday. They then dropped a 6-1 decision at Fresno Pacific earlier Friday.
Prior to the win over the Golden Eagles, the Warriors had lost nine straight after winning their first dual of the spring over NAIA Jessup back on Feb. 3.
Zuzanna Dsiewiecka is their No. 1 singles player while Annabelle Mullck and Alyssa Tya have split time in the No. 2 and 3 singles spots.
Dziewiecka typically also plays No. 1 doubles with various partners, including Mulick, who has also teamed with her sister Abbigail on multiple occasions.
Abbigail Mulick was the Warriors' lone winner in Friday's loss at Fresno Pacific, winning at No. 6 singles.
Series Histories
Monday's match-up will be just the second in the Mavs' & Warriors' history. The first was on Feb. 17, 2019 in St. George, Utah, a neutral-court match that the Warriors won 4-3 during the Trailblazer Invitational.
CMU won the doubles point in that encounter and had 2-0 and 3-1 leads before the Warriors won the last three singles matches, two of which came in three sets, to squeak out the dual.
Up Next
The Mavericks will head to Denver to play arch-rival MSU Denver for the first time in back-to-back weekends next Friday (Apr. 5). The Mavs will also play at CSU Pueblo on Sunday (Apr. 7) before returning home for their final three matches of the regular season.
