Cowgirl tennis snags first conference win

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., -- The Wyoming tennis team bounced back from its loss Friday at Air Force with a 4-2 victory Saturday morning against New Mexico down at the Air Force Academy.

With the win, UW improves to 4-0 in neutral site matches this season.

“We lost a tough battle yesterday and to turn around and rebound within 24 hours is no small task,” said UW head coach Dean Clower after the match. "The girls won today with grit alone and I’m proud of the fight they showed. If I had one word out of today’s performance, it would be resilience. As young as we are, we showed a lot of toughness and maturity today. The girls deserve a day off tomorrow to heal up.”

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Wyoming (7-6, 1-2 MW) was able to win four of the five completed singles matches Saturday to secure the win after dropping the doubles point to begin the day.

New Mexico (7-4, 1-2 MW) got wins at the No. 1 and 2 doubles spots to earn the doubles point in the match. Mihaela Kaftanova and Ida Krause got the Cowgirls their lone win in doubles play, winning at the third spot, 7-5.

In singles, Wyoming won at the No. 1, 2, 4 and 5 positions to come away with the victory. All four wins were straight-set victories. Lucia Malinak got the first win of the day at the No. 5 spot with a quick 6-0, 6-2 win over UNM’s Albie Huang. At the No. 1 spot, Maria Oreshkina’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Polly Chen gave the Cowgirls a 2-1 lead in the match.

Sophie Zehender got the victory at No. 2 singles, winning 6-3 and 7-6 over Natasha Munday, and at the number four spot, Noesjka Brink secured the win with her 7-5, 6-3 hard-fought win over Myu Kageyama.

The Cowgirls are now off for a week as they prepare to host their lone conference weekend of the season April 10 and 11 as Nevada and Fresno State come to town. Saturday’s match with the Wolf Pack is set for 9 a.m., while Sunday against Fresno will be at 1 p.m.

Wyoming 4, New Mexico 2
Doubles competition
1. Hsuan Huang/Natasha Munday (UNM) def. Noesjka Brink/Maria Oreshkina (WYO) 7-6
2. Polly Chen/My Kageyama (UNM) def. Ana Fernandez/Sophie Zehender (WYO) 7-5
3. Mihaela Kaftanova/Ida Krause (WYO) def. Albie Huang/Satoho Toriumi (UNM) 7-5

Singles competition
1. Oreshkina (WYO) def. Chen (UNM) 6-3, 6-1
2. Zehender (WYO) def. Munday (UNM) 6-3, 7-6
3. H. Huang (UNM) def. Fernandez (WYO) 6-0, 7-5
4. Brink (WYO) def. Kageyama (UNM) 7-5, 6-3
5. Malinak (WYO) def. A. Huang (UNM) 6-0, 6-2
6. Krause (WYO) vs. Toriumi (UNM) 6-7, 3-1, unfinished

* University of Wyoming press release