Final Stats
LARAMIE, Wyo. (April 14, 2017) – Freshman Ana Tkachenko would win the fourth point of the day to help the Wyoming tennis team (15-3, 3-0 MW) defeat the New Mexico Lobos (5-12 overall, 2-1 MW) by a 4-2 score on Friday night. With 15 victories on the season, it ties for most in school history which was set during the 2014-15 season. The Cowgirls are now 8-0 on the year at home and the 15-3 record is the best start through 18 games.
"We've talked all year about how deep our line-up is. We can win at any spot and it's nice to have freshman be able to clinch for us, but kudos to Ana (Tkachenko) and all of the other players that bring it every day," head coach Dean Clower said. "We had some people drop matches but they still brought it. This New Mexico team was hot coming in to the match today and have beat some tough teams in the conference. There are a few seniors on this team that beat us in the championship two years ago and our players remember that. It was a great win at home and hope it leads us into a tough match against Air Force tomorrow."
The two teams battled in doubles action with UW coming away with two wins to go up early in the match. The number two team of Dorottya Jonas and Tkachenko lost to Emily Olivier and Diana Wong 6-4, but the Cowgirls answered with a 6-4 win by Magdalena Stencel and Milka Genkova over Ludivine Burguiere and Cassie Chung. It came down to the team of Elisa Koonik and Tessa Van Der Ploeg against Dominique Dulski and Rachana Bhat. UW went up and took an early 4-1 lead. The Lobos responded by winning the next four of five to tie it up at five all. Each won its next games on serve, but Wyoming came out on top in the tiebreaker to win the match, 7-6 (7-4).
The Cowgirls went up 2-0 with a straight set win, 6-4, 6-1, by van Der Ploeg over Dulski. New Mexico got its first point of the match with Wong beating Koonik, 6-3, 6-3. Jonas earned a hard fought victory over Ruth Copas, 6-1, 6-4. It would be a battle between Stencel and Burguiere. The Lobos won the first set 6-2, and went up 2-0 in the second. UW fought back to go ahead 4-3. She was broken in the next game, but won the final two to take the set, 6-4. With the all even at three in the third, the Lobos won the next two games to go up 5-3. Unfortunately, Stencel couldn't come back losing the final two of three games and the set, 6-4. The match came down to a pair of freshmen at the fifth and sixth positions. Tkachenko cruised in her win over Chung, 6-1, 6-2, to clinch the winning point for the Cowgirls. Genkova dropped her first set 7-5 against Bhat but didn't finish the match.
Wyoming will return to action tomorrow as it hosts the Air Force Falcons. The match is set 12 p.m. MT at the UW Indoor Tennis Courts.
Tennis Match Results
New Mexico vs Wyoming Cowgirls
Apr 14, 2017 at Laramie, Wyo.
(UW Indoor Tennis Courts)
Wyoming Cowgirls 4, New Mexico 2
Singles competition
1. BURGUIERE, Ludivine (NM) def. Magdalena Stencel (WY) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
2. Dorottya Jonas (WY) def. COPAS, Ruth (NM) 6-1, 6-4
3. Tessa van Der Ploeg (WY) def. DULSKI, Dominique (NM) 6-4, 6-1
4. WONG, Diana (NM) def. Elisa Koonik (WY) 6-3, 6-3
5. Milka Genkova (WY) vs. BHAT, Rachana (NM) 5-7, 1-0, unfinished
6. Ana Tkachenko (WY) def. CHUNG, Cassie (NM) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Tessa van Der Ploeg/Elisa Koonik (WY) def. BHAT, Rachana/DULSKI, Dominique (NM) 7-6 (7-4)
2. OLIVIER, Emily/WONG, Diana (NM) def. Dorottya Jonas/Ana Tkachenko (WY) 6-4
3. Magdalena Stencel/Milka Genkova (WY) def. BURGUIERE, Ludivine/CHUNG, Cassie (NM) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,4,2,1,6)
