GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Maverick women's tennis team claimed a trio of 3-set singles matches and won the doubles point in a No. 3 tiebreaker as they claimed a thrilling 5-2 victory over visiting Colorado College on Saturday afternoon here at the Elliott Tennis Center.
The Mavericks won for the fourth time in five duals and improved to 7-6 overall. They also avenged a 4-3 fall season loss to the Tigers.
The Tigers, ranked 35
th in the ITA's NCAA Division III rankings, fell to 2-2 overall.
They had lost 6-1 earlier in the day, their first of the spring, to NCAA Division I Utah Tech.
Prior to the afternoon dual, the Mavericks recognized four players in a Senior Day presentation, a group that went 3-1 in singles play.
The Mavs came from behind in doubles as
Delia Maier and
Catalina Ballon, who both went 2-0 on the day, claimed a 6-3 win over Ally Lowe and Avery Hickman at No. 2 doubles.
Freshman
Valentina Gonzalez and
Sophie Hartman then squeaked out a 7-5 win over Kala Komanduri and Lindsay Popeo in the third flight tiebreaker.
In singles, the Tigers drew first blood as Lowe beat Gonzalez, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2 before Maier completed a 7-5, 6-2 win over Hickman at No. 4 singles.
The remaining four singles matches all went to a third set as
Devyn Rodriguez pulled out a 10-8 win in the decisive set over Aspen Young in the top flight.
However, Komanduri then came from a set down to defeat Brilhante, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6) on the neighboring court at No. 3 singles to once again pull the Tigers within a team point at 3-2.
In the later wave, Ballon then clinched the dual with a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8) win over Lucia Moravek at No. 5 singles to clinch the dual before
Jane Steur claimed an equally thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) No. 6 singles win over Popeo.
CMU's
Taylor Nokes also won a pair of exhibition sets over two different Tiger players. She and Steur also won a 7-5 exhibition doubles match.
The Mavs will now prepare for their most important trip of the season to date when they travel to Lubbock, Texas for three matches against fellow NCAA Division II South Central Regional opponents next Friday and Saturday.
