LARAMIE, Wyo. (April 23, 2019) – Wyoming will return to action on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2019 MW Tennis Championship in San Diego, Calif. The fifth-seeded Cowgirls will take on the fourth-seeded New Mexico Lobos. The match is set for 11 a.m. MT at the Aztec Tennis Complex. Live stats will be located at GoWyo.com.
 
The Cowgirls enter the Thursday's competition with a 13-7 record overall and finished with a 3-2 mark in Mountain West play. On Saturday, they dropped a 4-2 contest against the Colorado State Rams. Senior Elisa Koonik is 13-5 this spring, 3-2 in conference and 16-13 overall in singles action, while freshman Maria Oreshkina has a 13-6 mark in dual play, 4-1 in MW play and is 19-11 overall. Junior Ana Royo has an 18-12 record followed by freshman Mihaela Kaftanova sitting at 15-12 and 8-4 this spring. Senior Tessa van Der Ploeg has a 10-8 dual mark and 16-15 overall followed by freshman Ana Fernandez who is 11-15 overall on the year. Kaftanova and fellow freshman Ida Krause are 12-8 overall in doubles action.
 
Under Clower, Wyoming is 8-7 all-time at the league championship. The Cowgirls have won all its opening round matches in the MW tournament during Clower's tenure and the past nine of ten seasons. The Cowgirls reached the championship match in 2015 falling to New Mexico, 4-2 in the finals. They have played UNLV the last three straight years in the semifinals, falling each time to the Lady Rebels.
 
New Mexico enters the tournament with a 12-8 record and 4-1 in MW play. They are led by sophomore Yue Lin Chen who has a 22-6 overall mark and went 3-0 in league play. Fellow sophomore Bronte Murgett is 18-4 on the year and finished 4-0 in MW play. Sophomore Natasha Munday and Murgett went 15-1 in doubles action. This will be the 26th meeting between the two schools. UNM leads the series 18-7. The last time the two squads met March 29, 2019 with the Cowgirls coming out on top 4-1 in Laramie.  The Lobos are coached by Vicky Maes.
 
2019 MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS
 
Wednesday, April 24
11 a.m. MT              First Round Match #1   No. 8 San Jose State vs. No. 9 Fresno State
11 a.m. MT              First Round Match #2   No. 7 Utah State vs. No. 10 Boise State
2 p.m. MT               First Round Match #3   No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Nevada
 
Thursday, April 25
11 a.m. MT              Quarterfinal Match #1    No. 4 New Mexico vs. No. 5 Wyoming
11 a.m. MT              Quarterfinal Match #2    No. 1 UNLV vs. San Jose State/Fresno State winner
3 p.m. MT               Quarterfinal Match #3    No. 2 Air Force vs. Utah State/Boise State winner
3 p.m. MT               Quarterfinal Match #4    No. 3 San Diego State vs. Colorado State/Nevada winner
 
Friday, April 26
11 a.m. MT              Semifinal Match #1       Quarterfinal Match #1 winner vs. Quarterfinal Match #2 winner
3 p.m. MT               Semifinal Match #2       Quarterfinal Match #3 winner vs. Quarterfinal Match #4 winner
 
Saturday, April 27
12 p.m. MT        Championship Match