SALT LAKE CITY –The University of Utah women's tennis program kicked off the spring slate with two sweeps, defeating Utah Tech 4-0 and Montana State 4-0 in a doubleheader on home turf.
Junior Kaila Barksdale led the Utes by going undefeated in both singles and doubles action in both matches.
UTAH TECH The Utes started out hot in doubles competition sweeping the Trailblazers grabbing the doubles point advantage. On the No. 3 court, Utah duo Kaila Barksdale and Hayley Roberts defeated Utah Tech's Nutsa Tsintsadze and Laura Coulome 6-4. Sara Akid and Emma Valletta then clinched the doubles point as they topped Maya Inouye and Mariana Zurita 6-4 in the No. 1 spot. The Utes wrapped up doubles competition with a 6-4 win with Emma Kamper and Dylan Lolofie defeating Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Olivia Bustos on the second court.
Utah continued their momentum in singles competition, as Roberts led the charge on the No. 6 court where she claimed a dominant victory in her first collegiate match, downing Coulome 6-0, 6-1. Barksdale then followed suit in the No. 3 spot when she topped Tsintsadze 6-1, 6-0. Akid then clinched the overall match victory on court No. 2 as she defeated Zurita 6-4, 6-0. Kamper was able to finish out her match and downed Gutierrez Sampere 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 1 spot to give Utah the 5-0 final score.
Kamper, Valletta, and Lolofie were each ahead in their respective matches, but they were left unfinished.
MONTANA STATE Utah had another strong doubles start against the Bobcats. Barksdale and Roberts claimed the first Ute victory on the No. 3 court, topping Mia Ljubas and Kavya Khirwar 6-2. Kamper and Lolofie were next to finish on the second court, defeating Marta Garcia and Hudson Hawkins 6-2. Akid and Valletta then closed out the doubles sweep as they defeated JoJo Bach and Meg McCarthy 7-5 in the No. 1 spot.
The Utes maintained dominance heading into singles as Valletta claimed the first victory on the No. 4 court over Montana State's Khirwar 6-2, 6-0. Barksdale then defeated Hawkins in the third spot 6-3, 6-1 to extend Utah's lead to 3-0. Lolofie finished the day and clinched for the Utes by defeating Andrea Cuquerella 6-2, 6-0 on the No. 5 court.
The remaining matches were left unfinished with Kamper and Roberts in the lead in their singles matches before the match was clinched.
UP NEXT The Utes are set to hit the road to Palo Alto, Calif. for the ITA Kickoff, where they will take on Ole Miss (Jan. 24) and Memphis (Jan. 25).
SINGLES DRAWS 1 Emma Kamper (UU) def. A Gutierrez Sampere (UT) 6-1 6-1 2 Sara Akid (UU) def. Mariana Zurita (UT) 6-4 6-0 3 Kaila Barksdale (UU) def. Nutsa Tsintsadze (UT) 6-1 6-0 4 Emma Valletta (UU) vs. Olivia Bustos (UT) match was unfinished 6-3 3-1 5 Dylan Lolofie (UU) vs. Maya Inouye (UT) match was unfinished 6-1 3-2 6 Hayley Roberts (UU) def. Laura Coulome (UT) 6-0 6-1
SINGLES DRAWS 1 Emma Kamper (UU) vs. Mar Garcia-Reboredo (MSU) match was unfinished 6-2 4-3 2 Sara Akid (UU) vs. Meg McCarty (MSU) match was unfinished 2-6 4-5 3 Kaila Barksdale (UU) def. Hudson Hawkins (MSU) 6-3 6-1 4 Emma Valletta (UU) def. Kavya Khirwar (MSU) 6-2 6-0 5 Dylan Lolofie (UU) def. Andrea Cuquerella (MSU) 6-2 6-2 6 Hayley Roberts (UU) vs. Mia Ljubas (MSU) match was unfinished
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