GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After playing in the Colorado College Invitational singles and doubles tournament last week, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick women's tennis team will play their first four team duals of the season this weekend in the Pueblo Duals at Pueblo City Park.
 
The Mavericks will take on Nebraska-Kearney and Lubbock Christian from Texas on Friday before facing a pair of Kansas opponents in Newman and Fort Hays State on Saturday as they play their only four duals of the brief, but jam-packed fall schedule.
 
The Maverick men will also play three duals against Nebraska-Kearney, Lubbock Christian and Newman.  Fort Hays State does not have a men's program.
 
Last Time Out
 
Eight Maverick women had a combined 12-9 singles record and 6-3 doubles record at the Colorado College Invitational last Saturday and Sunday in Colorado Springs.
 
Sophomore Devyn Rodriguez reached the semifinals of the "A" draw while freshman Kayla Huish made the "C" singles final while posting team-best 3-1 record.
 
Audrey O'Rear also went 2-1 in "C" singles action while Delia Maier had a 2-2 record in the "A" flight.
 
Huish and fellow freshman Taylor Nokes also won the "C" doubles bracket.
 
The Mavs also won three consolation brackets.
 
A listing of all the Mavericks' match results from the weekend tournament can be found here.
 
Checking on the Newcomers
 
The Mavericks have five newcomers on their 2024 roster, four of which saw their first action as a Maverick last week
 
Freshman Kayla Huish led the group going 3-1 in singles play and 2-0 in doubles with fellow freshman Taylor Nokes, who had a 1-1 singles record.
 
Chilean freshman Catalina Ballon Marin also went 1-1 in singles while Utah State and Northern Arizona transfer Jade Brilhante went 1-2.

Brilhante also went 1-1 in on court action with Devyn Rodriguez as the pair won the "A" doubles consolation bracket by default over teammates Makenna Livingston and Delia Maier after Livingston suffered an injury earlier in the tournament.  Ballon was 1-1 in "B" doubles with Audrey O'Rear, winning that consolation bracket.
 
Veteran Leaders
 
Four of the five Maverick returners also competed last week as Audrey O'Rear and Delia Maier both recorded two on-court wins.  Devyn Rodriguez also reached the semifinals of the "A" draw, winning her season debut before winning by walkover over Makenna Livingston, who also won her opening match before not starting the scheduled quarterfinal against Rodriguez.
 
A look at the lineup
 
Now that the Mavericks are into the team section of their season, here is a look at their probable lineup as stated by Coach Dan MacDonald
 
Singles
1. Makenna Livingston
2. Devyn Rodriguez
3. Catalina Ballon Marin
4. Jade Brilhante
5. Jane Steur
6. Audrey O'Rear
Alternate: Kayla Huish

Doubles
1. Livingston/Maier
2. Brilhante/Rodriguez
3. Steur/Ballon

Know Your Foes
 
Nebraska-Kearney – Friday – 8:30 a.m.
 
The Lopers had a strong 21-6 season and reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament before being downed by eventual national runner-up Barry.  They also won the MIAA regular season title and reached the finals of the MIAA Tournament, but still received an at-large bid and rights to host the NCAA Central regional, where they beat Northwest Missouri before also recording a win over Azusa Pacific in the Round of 16.
 
Melisa Becerra went 18-2 in singles play, while Narinda Ranaivo went 20-6.  Alexis Bernthal (17-5) and Fabiana Gamboa (16-8) also enjoyed strong seasons.  All but Becerra, who was 24-3 with Ranaivo in doubles last year, are back this year.
 
Meanwhile, sophomore Tanya Midzi went 3-0 to win the "red" bracket at last weekend's Rockhurst Invitational in Kansas City.  She and Ranaivo were also 3-0 in the "green" doubles bracket to lead the Lopers' performance.
 
Lubbock Christian – Friday – 12:30 p.m.
 
The Lady Chaps went 20-7 in 2023-24 and were 5-5 in Lone Star Conference play in what was just their second year with a program.
 
They had five All-Lone Star Conference selections a year ago, including Andrea De Bernardo, who earned second team singles honors.  She is back for her sophomore season after being nationally-ranked throughout much of the spring.
 
They Lady Chaps split their squad between the Brother Al Invitational, hosted by St. Mary's in San Antonio and the Dallas Baptist Invitational last weekend.
 
Mariia Koroleva won the Flight 3 singles title in San Antonio while De Bernardo (Flight 1) and Maya Adler (Flight 4) both made the finals.  De Bernardo and Axelle Jacquemin also won the Flight B doubles titles.
 
Newman – Saturday – 9 a.m.
 
The Jets went 12-12 a year ago and will open their campaign on Friday taking on MSU Denver and Colorado College before facing the Mavs.
 
Brady Mathews is the Jets' new coach after Shella Augspurger announced her retirement in August.
 
Dana Issabayeva was named to the All-MIAA Second Team last year and is back for her senior season after leading the team with 18 singles and 15 doubles wins a year ago.  She finished the season ranked 46^th in the ITA Rankings.
 
Fort Hays State – Saturday – 1 p.m.
 
The Tigers are coming off a rough 6-15 season that saw them go winless in the MIAA while losing their 11 last overall decisions.
 
Irina Alfonso, who went 12-12 in singles play in the No. 1 and 2 positions, led last year's squad while Grace Unruh had a solid 13-11 record, playing mostly in the No. 6 singles spot with sport starts at the No. 3, 4 and 5 positions as well.
 
Alfonso is back for her senior season while Unruh is now a junior on Head Coach Brian Flax's squad.
 
The Tigers will play their first duals this weekend after starting the year at the Bethany College Invitational last week.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are 16-24 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney but have lost three straight decisions since last defeating them in February, 2021, the Mavs' only win over the Lopers since 2011.  UNK has won 14 of the last 15 match-ups, including a 4-0 indoor decision on Feb. 9 near the start of last spring season.
 
CMU is 0-2 against Lubbock Christian having met the Lady Chaps at the Pueblo Duals in each of the last two years.  The Texas squad won 6-1 last year and 4-3 in 2022.  Then freshman Devyn Rodriguez won at No. 3 singles last year.
 
The Mavs are 2-5 against Newman but have not faced  the Jets since 2019.  The Jets won a 4-3 Pueblo Duals decision that fall after the Mavs had won by the same scoreline in 2018, stopping a run of four straight Jet wins.  Four of the previous seven matches have been played in Pueblo.
 
The Mavericks have dominated the series with Fort Hays State, defeating the Tigers in nine straight decisions since 2014 while building a commanding 23-3 all-time series lead.
 
The Tigers won the first two match-ups in 1998 and 1999 but have won just one of the last 24, which came in 2012.
 
All 11 of the match-ups since 2011 have been played in Pueblo during September of each season.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's team action, the Mavs will return to individual play competing in the Sept. 26-28 ITA West Regional Championships in Azusa, California.   That tournament will wrap up the Mavs' fall season.