GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After returning from Hawai'i on Tuesday, the Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team will make their final away trip of the season to St. George, Utah, where they will face the NCAA Division I Utah Tech Trailblazers in a Friday doubleheader.
The matches were moved up a day due to weather forecasts and will be played at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Trailblazer Tennis Courts.
The second dual will be an exhibition for the Mavs but will count on the Trailblazers' record.
CMU will enter the matches with an 11-14 overall record while the hosts are currently 9-11.
Last Times Out
The Mavericks played three matches in as many days in Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu. The Mavs opened the trip with a 4-1 loss to Hawai'i Pacific, ranked 27
th the nationally at the time, on Saturday evening. They then bounced back for a 5-2 win over Hawai'i Hilo on Easter Sunday before falling 4-2 to Point Loma on Monday.
The Mavericks went a combined 7-8 in completed singles matches throughout the trip as five different players won at least one match.
All seven Mavs that played won in either singles or doubles.
Recaps of all three matches can be found here.
Homecoming Success
Maverick senior
Jade Brilhante won all three of her No. 3 singles matches on the trip to her home state of Hawai'i.
One of those wins came over Hawai'i Hilo, her home town team.
Brilhante has won seven straight singles matches and now leads the team with her 16-14 overall record.
On the verge of 20
Catalina Ballon and
Delia Maier now have a 19-8 doubles record this season and are just one win shy of becoming the first Maverick players to reach the 20-win mark in a season since the Sera sisters— Kaitlan and Keleen in 2011-12.
Know Your Foe
The Trailblazers are 9-11 and last played on the Mar. 27-28 weekend, when they split home matches defeating Montana, 5-2 before falling 7-0 to Tarleton State in their only Western Athletic Conference match of the season.
They will close out the regular season on Friday and then will head to the WAC Championships next weekend.
Cameron Hendrix has the team's best singles records at 11-7 and has a 9-6 mark at her normal No. 5 spot while also playing as high as No. 2.
Mariana Zurita Berdecio has played at No. 1, going 7-10 in the top flight.
Maya Inouye and Nutsa Tsintsadze also have nine wins and winning records in singles.
They also lead the team in doubles, going 8-9 together, including a 7-8 mark at No. 2.
Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Zurita Berdecio are 6-7 in the top flight.
Series History
The Mavericks hold a 17-14 all-time series lead against the Utah Tech Trailblazers, former conference and Division II regional rivals when the St. George, Utah institution was known as Dixie State and in NCAA Division II.
The Mavs also have a slight 9-8 lead in the series in St. George.
Eight of the last nine matches between the teams have been played there with this season's earlier match-up on Feb. 27 as the lone exception.
The Trailblazers have won the last three meetings by 7-0 scores after the Mavs won three straight during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Up Next
The Mavericks will be back at home next Saturday (Apr. 18) when they will host CSU Pueblo to close out the season. That match at the Elliott Tennis Center is slated for 11 a.m.
