Utah Returns to the Wasatch Front to Face Washington State and Denver

Saturday, February 14

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:00 AM

University of Utah

Washington State

Utah Returns to the Wasatch Front to Face Washington State and Denver

2/11/2026 11:58 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Takota Lee

SALT LAKE CITY— The University of Utah women's tennis team return to the Wasatch Front to face the Washington State Cougars and Denver Pioneers this weekend at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. The Utes are currently 4-1 on the season.

MATCH INFORMATION
Utah (4-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Washington State (3-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
DATE | TIME: Saturday, February 14 | 11 a.m. MT
LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah | George S. Eccles Tennis Center
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES:@UteWomensTennis

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Washington State Cougars are coming to Utah on a two-day tour. They will first travel to Provo, Utah to face the BYU Cougars on Feb. 13 before facing the Utah Utes on Feb. 14. They are coming off a 4-0 win against the UC Davis Aggies on Feb. 6.

In doubles action, Washington State has two doubles pairings on a four-match win streak in duo Chisato Kanemaki and Maxine Murphy at the No. 1 spot and duo Yura Nakagawa and Eva Alvarez Sande at the No. 2 spot. Both pairings are 4-0 in doubles play this season.

In singles action, Cougars' Sande currently leads the team, going 4-0 on the season while playing at the No. 1 or No. 2 spots. Martina Puvill is also 3-0 on the season while playing at the No. 4 spot. Washington State is currently 3-1 on the season.

MATCH INFORMATION
Utah (4-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Denver (5-0, 0-0 Summit League)
DATE | TIME: Friday, February 15 | 1 p.m. MT
LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah | George S. Eccles Tennis Center
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES:@UteWomensTennis

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Denver Pioneers are coming to the state of Utah on a quick trip to face both the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars. The Pioneers will dual the BYU Cougars on Feb. 14 in Provo, Utah before taking on the Utah Utes on Feb. 15. The Pioneers are currently 5-0 on the season and this trip will mark their first away matches this season.

In doubles play, Denver duo Zoe Adkins and Natálie Cinková lead the Pioneers with a 4-1 record in dual play on the No. 3 court. The Pioneers see success in Hana Becirovic Novak and Marley Lambert. Novak and Lambert currently hold a 3-2 record on the No. 1 court.

Yunfei Cai leads the Pioneers in singles action with a 5-0 record at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. Playing at the No. 1 spot, Pioneers' Louise Wikander holds down the court with a 4-0 record.

The Pioneers haven't lost a match on courts No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 this season.

THE UTES
The Utah women's tennis program returns seniors Dylan Lolofie, Kaila Barksdale and Emma Valletta. The Utes also welcome juniors Sara Akid and Emma Kamper this season. Utah has one sophomore returning to the squad in Hayley Roberts. The Utes welcome four newcomers with two transfers in Emmie Moore and Kamea Medora and two new true freshmen in Andjelija Markovic and Hailey Kerker.

LAST TIME OUT
The Utes are coming off a 5-2 win against the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine.

Utah clinched the doubles point after fighting in tiebreakers on courts No. 1 and No. 2. Utah's No. 1 duo Emma Valletta and Emma Kamper beat Hawai'i's Greta Gull and Sophie Rachor 7-6(7). Valetta and Kamper are currently 5-0 as a pairing this season.

At the No. 2 spot, Emmie Moore and Sara Akid battled for a 7-6(3) victory over UH's Galindo and Nepomuceno.

In singles play, Kamper took care of business with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Hawai'i's Gull. Kamper is 4-1 in singles play this year at the No. 1 spot.

The Utes dropped on courts No. 5 and No. 6 before picking up victories at the No. 4, No. 3, and No. 2 spots to clinch the overall match for the Utes.

The Utes are currently 4-1 on the season.

HEAD COACH RUTH ANN ALLEN
The Utah women's tennis team welcomed Ruth Ann Allen as head coach this past season. A Utah native and a Utah All-American and Hall of Famer, Allen returns to lead the program after a successful tenure as head coach at Weber State. She guided the Wildcats to a Big Sky Championship in 2023 and was twice named Big Sky Coach of the Year (2022, 2023).

Before Weber State, Allen spent 20 seasons as an assistant coach at Utah, where she helped the Utes secure multiple NCAA Tournament bids, two Mountain West Conference titles, and numerous top-five regional rankings. Allen, an All-American during her playing career at Utah, was inducted into the Utah Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2023.

NEXT UP
The Utes will travel to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies on Feb. 20 and the San Diego Toreros on Feb. 21 before beginning conference play.

FOLLOW THE UTES
Fans can follow us on social media (Twitter: @UteWomensTennis | Instagram: @UtahWomensTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwomenstennis).