GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will hope to make it's case for NCAA Division II Tournament selection when the Mavericks head to Lubbock, Texas for three matches against fellow South Central Regional opponents on Friday and Saturday.
 
All three matches will be played at Lubbock Christian University's Penny Gullo Tennis Center.
 
The Mavericks, currently 7-6 overall, 3-2 against Division II foes and 2-0 against other teams from the region, open the weekend against Cameron at 9 a.m. CST (8 a.m. Mountain) on Friday.  They will then play St. Mary's at the same time on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with a 1:30 p.m. CST (12:30 p.m.) against the weekend hosts.
 
The Maverick men are a playing the same three teams.
 
Live results for all of the Mavs' matches can be found through this portal.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Maverick women had one of just two home weekends last week, splitting their two matches on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
 
On Friday, the Mavs dropped a 7-0 decision to NCAA Division I Utah Tech.
 
However, the Mavs bounced back to claim a 5-2 Saturday win over Colorado College, ranked 35^th in the ITA's NCAA Division III Team Rankings on Saturday.  That win also avenged the Mavs' 4-3 fall season setback to the Tigers, who fell by a 6-1 score to Utah Tech on Saturday morning.
 
The Mavs recognized four of their top players during a pre-match Senior Day ceremony on Saturday and then came out to seize the early lead thanks to a tie-breaker at No. 3 doubles before claiming a trio of 3-set singles matches.
 
The Mavs picked up 10-8, 10-8 and 10-7 wins in the match tiebreakers at No. 1, 5 and 6 singles as Catalina Ballon picked up the clincher at No. 5 singles after she and Delia Maier, who claimed a more comfortable 7-5, 6-2 No. 4 singles win, had won in doubles.
 
In-Region
 
This weekend's matches will be three of the remaining four that the Mavericks have against fellow South Central Regional teams as they fight for one of the four available NCAA Tournament spots, one of which will be claimed by the Lone Star Conference Tournament Champions.
 
As an independent, the Mavericks can only be selected at-large but have done a solid job thus far in 2025-26 and will hope to continue proving their case this weekend.  Although matches against all NCAA Division II foes play a role in the selection process, the head-to-head results could be pivotal.
 
The Mavericks currently hold a pair of wins over Western New Mexico and CSU Pueblo and will take on CSU Pueblo again at home in April in their season finale.  The Mavs are also 3-1 in "in-region" matches, which includes a fall season win over Fort Hays State and a spring season loss to Nebraska-Kearney under the NCAA's regionalization and contiguous state policies.
 
The Mavs' upcoming trips to California and Hawai'i will also feature seven other NCAA Division II matches against West Region foes but will also count as "in-region" under those policies.
 
However, this weekend's match-ups also include the head-to-head and common opponent portions of the selection criteria.
 
Double Figure Club
 
The Mavericks have three players who have already reached double figures for singles wins this season and as many as three more could join that club this weekend. 
 
Devyn Rodriguez leads the group with 12 wins (12-6) while Delia Maier (10-5) and Catalina Ballon (10-8) are right behind.  Freshman Sophie Hartman has nine wins and a solid 9-3 record while Valentina Gonzalez (8-7) and Jade Brilhante (8-10) are two wins away from double digits.
 
In doubles, the duos of Ballon/Maier and Gonzalez/Hartman are both 13-6.  Brilhante and Rodriguez are 7-8 and could get to double figures with a weekend sweep.
 
Texas Two-Step
 
The Mavericks will venture in to the state of Texas for the first time in nearly six years.
 
They last played in the Lone Star State on Mar. 7, 2020 as the last of three days while playing in MSU Texas's Tennis Invitational, where the Mavs went 1-3 with a win over Cameron.
 
Know Your Foes
 
Cameron
 
The Aggies have a 1-3 official record and lost in all three matches they played last weekend in Tyler, Texas against teams from the South Region.  They were downed by Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.), West Florida and West Alabama.
 
Their victory came at home in Lawton, Oklahoma by a 4-3 score.  They also have three wins over junior college opponents this spring.
 
Jenna Goessel has one win in the top flight of singles, but the Aggies have been better in the bottom half of the lineup with Daniela Maldonado going 2-1 at No. 6 while Isabella Quintero is 2-2 at No. 4 and 5.
 
Goessel and Adel Ismagulova are 2-1 at No. 1 doubles.
 
Alexa Garcia was ranked 20^th in the ITA's South Central Regional rankings at the end of the fall but has gone 0-4 at No. 3 singles this spring.  Quintero and Goessel were ranked 10^th in doubles at the end of the fall but have played with different partners this spring.
 
St. Mary's

The Rattlers are 4-4 as a team and will host No. 11 Hawai'i Pacific on Thursday.  They have lost their last three but fell by tight 4-3 scores to Missouri Western State and Augustana last Saturday in Kearney, Nebraska.
 
They are 0-3 against Division II opposition.
 
Alessia Terlizzi is tied for 61^st in the ITA's NCAA Division II Singles rankings and has posted a 7-2 record against Division II opposition.  She is 3-1 in duals this spring in the top flight.  Selina Wu is also 4-0 in the top flight and 7-1 overall this spring.
 
Wu and Gia Posito are 5-1 in the top flight of doubles.  Posito and Terlizzi are ranked 39^th nationally in doubles but have played together once this spring.  They were ranked second in the ITA's South Central Region rankings at the end of the fall while Wu was ranked ninth with Suryanshi Suryanshi, who is no longer on the roster.
 
Terlizzi and Madalyn Smelley were ranked eighth and tenth in the region for singles at the end of the fall.
 
Lubbock Christian
 
The Lady Chaps have a 5-3 record after winning their Lone Star Conference opener over UT Permian Basin and have been victorious in four of their last five outings, including a pair of wins over Seward County Community College.
 
AnaMaria Zoric leads the team with a dozen singles wins and is 12-6 overall and 6-1 in duals, playing mostly at the No. 2 spot.  She has won six straight.  Andrea De Bernardo is not far behind with a 10-6 overall record, including a 4-2 mark at No. 1.
 
Kristel Jativa has an 11-5 record and has won five straight in the No. 4 and 5 spots of the lineup.
 
De Bernardo and Zoric have a solid 7-1 doubles record and are 6-0 in duals at the top flight.  They have won seven overall and are ranked 17^th in the ITA's national rankings.
 
Zoric, who is fourth, is one of three Lady Chaps in the top 20 of the ITA's South Central Regional Rankings, last released at the end of the fall.  Oshini Herath is 14^th while De Bernardo is 18^th.
 
Sofia Velero and Jativa are seventh in the regional doubles rankings.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are 1-7 all-time against Cameron but posted 4-3 win in their last meeting back on Mar. 6, 2020.  That match was played in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 
The Mavs are 0-2 against St. Mary's.  The last meeting was on Sept. 16, 2022 in Pueblo, Colorado.  The Rattlers won that match 7-0 and won the only other previous match in 2015, also played in Pueblo, by a 9-0 score.
 
The Mavs are 0-3 against Lubbock Christian.  They have met the Lady Chaps in the fall of the last three academic years all at the Pueblo Duals.  Saturday's match-up will be their spring season encounter.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will resume what has become an annual tradition of spending Spring Break in California.  They will play four matches against Pacific West Conference foes in as many days between Sunday, Mar. 15 and Wednesday, Mar. 18 playing at Westmont, No. 50 Biola and No. 14 Azusa Pacific while matching up with No. 44 Menlo at Azusa Pacific's Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.