Women's Tennis Loses Close Match to UNM

Friday, April 11

Albuquerque, N.M.

TBA

University of Utah

New Mexico

4/11/2008 12:00 AM | Women's Tennis

April 11, 2008

ALUBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The No. 54 University of Utah women's tennis team had a tough road match on Friday against No. 55 New Mexico. The Lobos defended their home courts to slide by with a 4-3 win over Utah. The Utes will take on No. 24 TCU on Saturday with a 4-2 conference record under their belts. The Utes are now 13-7 overall.

The Utes started out on a high note on Friday by earning the doubles point. Elizabeth Ferris and Emily Kwok took care of business at the top spot. The Ute duo took on Lucy Scott and Ola Abou-Zekry from the Lobos for a well played 8-4 win to get things started for the Utes.

Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan clinched the doubles point for Utah at the No. 2 spot. The Utes took on Jennifer Ryba and Mackenzie White from the Lobos' squad for an 8-5 win to give Utah a 1-0 lead.

In the absence of Evgenia Kryuchkova, Leigh Walsh and Karine Bourdages teamed up at the No. 3 spot. The Ute duo played hard against Emma Hayman and Victoria Tessmar from New Mexico, but couldn't quite pull out the win. The Lobo duo defeated Walsh and Bourdages 8-6 to give New Mexico their only win in doubles play.

In singles play, the Utes struggled a little to find their bearings. Utah's seniors were able to pull out wins at the top spots, but the bottom of the line-up wasn't able to follow in their footsteps.

Ferris, currently ranked No. 60 by the ITA, took on No. 123 Abou-Zekry from New Mexico's squad. The Ute played a high level match of tennis, outsmarting the Lobo 6-2, 6-4 to give Utah a promising 2-0 lead.

At the No. 6 spot, New Mexico's Maria Sotirchos was able to overpower Utah's Maughan 7-5, 6-4 to put the Lobos on the board. Kwok stepped in at the No. 2 spot in Kryuchkova's absence to face Mackenzie White. The Ute came well prepared for the challenge, bringing her A-game to the court. Kwok found her rhythm late in the first set, but still pulled out the victory. In the second set, the Ute played well against the Lobo to earn a 7-6, 6-4 win.

Although the Utes were up 3-1, the tables soon turned for Utah as New Mexico took the next three wins. Lucy Scott from New Mexico and Utah's Monson finished up shortly after Kwok, but the Lobo was on the winning end of the stick this time. Scott edged out a 7-6, 6-4 win at the last minute to start closing the gap between the two teams.

Bourdages finished up next at the No. 5 spot against Jennifer Ryba from New Mexico. The Lobo took the first set 6-1, but Bourdages snapped right back to take the second set 6-1. Ryba got back into her groove in the third set to take the win 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 to tie up the overall match 3-3.

The match was clinched for New Mexico at the No. 4 spot by Emma Hayman. The Lobo fell in the first set to Utah's Walsh, but came back to sweep the second set 6-0. Walsh stepped up her game to try to take the third set, but wasn't able to quite pull it out. Hayman took the win 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 over the Ute to give New Mexico the win 4-3.

"I feel bad about the loss for the seniors because they stepped up to play their best matches today," said head coach Mat Iandolo. "New Mexico out-competed us at the bottom of the line up, which is a problem for us if we want to become an elite program."

#54 Utah 3, #55 UNM 4Doubles:1. Ferris/Kwok (Utah) def. Scott/Abou-Zekry (UNM); 8-42. Maughan/Monson (Utah) def. Ryba/White (UNM); 8-53. Hayman/Tessmar (UNM) def. Bourdages/Walsh (Utah); 8-6
Singles:1. #60 Elizabeth Ferris (Utah) def. #123 Ola Abou-Zekry (UNM); 6-2, 6-42. Emily Kwok (Utah) def. Mackenzie White (UNM); 7-6, 6-43. Lucy Scott (UNM) def. Erin Monson (Utah); 7-6, 6-44. Emma Hayman (UNM) def. Leigh Walsh (Utah); 3-6, 6-0, 6-45. Jennifer Ryba (UNM) def. Karine Bourdages (Utah); 6-1, 1-6, 6-16. Maria Sotirchos (UNM) def. Andrea Maughan (Utah); 7-5, 6-4