Utah Cleans up in Season-Opening Doubleheader

Friday, January 19

Salt Lake City, UT

12:00 PM

University of Utah

Montana State

1/19/2024 8:33 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's tennis program earned its first two wins of the season against Montana State and Utah Tech Friday afternoon. The Utes defeated the Bobcats 7-0 and the Trailblazers 7-0, sweeping the season-open doubleheader.

"Productive first day for the group," said head coach Ric Mortera. "With so many new players it was great to see how well the group worked together. We still have plenty to work on but a lot of positives to take from the day overall. We look forward to having a good practice in the morning to get some stuff cleaned up and preparing for another opportunity Sunday."

Utah 7, Montana State 0
The Utes kicked off the season by grabbing the doubles point advantage. Ana Luiza Cruz and Marcela Lopez partnered up to claim the first doubles victory against the Bobcats' Hudson Hawkins and Marta Garcia-Reboredo, 6-1 in the No. 1 spot. Pairing up in the No. 3 spot, Kat Lyman and Sara Akid clinched the doubles point advantage with a 6-2 win over Montana State's Andrea Cuquerella and Meg McCarty. Emma Kamper and Yuhan Liu battled in the No. 2 spot, but succumbed to Bobcat duo, Felicia Jayasaputra and Jazmin Lermin 4-6.

Kaila Barksdale claimed the first Utes' singles victory, collecting a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Montana State's Paula Dougherty in the No. 2 spot. Lopez posted the second singles victory over Garcia-Reboredo 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 1 spot. Liu grabbed a win in the No. 3 spot, topping McCarty 6-3, 6-0. Putting up the fourth victory for the Utes, Cruz overcame Hawkins in the No. 6 spot, 6-2, 7-5. Lyman took down Cuquerella in a hard fought 10-point tiebreaker, 6-2, 4-6, 10-2. In the final match, Kamper defeated Lerman 6-7 (8), 6-2, 10-6.

Utah 7, Utah Tech 0
The Utes continued their dominance heading into the second match of the day, sweeping in doubles. Striking first, Akid and Lyman claimed a 6-2 win over Utah Tech duo, Ya-Chi Hsu and Adi Venkatakrishnan, in the No. 3 spot. Kamper and Liu partnered up in the No. 2 spot, clinching the doubles point by defeating Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Kylie Kezos, 6-1. Cruz and Lopez triumphed in a nail-biting tiebreaker match, narrowly defeating Rachel Mellor and Annemiek Sterk 7-6 (8) to close out the doubles sweep.

Leading the charge in singles, Lopez claimed the first Utes victory, 6-1, 6-0, over Sampere in the No. 1 spot. Barksdale followed up, maintaining her win streak by defeating Venkatakrishnan 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 2 spot. In the No. 4 spot, Kamper overpowered Hsu 6-0, 6-1, clinching the fourth point to claim the match victory for the Utes. Lyman kept up the team's momentum with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Utah Tech's Olivia Bustos in the No. 5 spot. Liu continued the Utes' winning streak, defeating Mariana Zurita 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 3 spot, while Akid secured the second sweep of the day by beating Kezos in the No. 6 spot, 6-3, 6-2.

UP NEXT
Utah will hit the road to Michigan to take on the Wolverines Jan. 26 in the ITA Kickoff. Utah will then play either Purdue or Arkansas. Utah's next home match will be Friday, Feb. 9 against rival BYU.

FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2024 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahTennis | Instagram: @UtahTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahmenstennis).