The University of Wyoming women’s tennis team spent two days in Lubbock, Texas where they lost to 18th ranked Texas Tech 7-0 on Saturday and beat Texas State 4-3 on Sunday.
Saturday’s challenge was a tough one for the Cowgirls, as they faced a nationally ranked Texas Tech squad.
“Give credit to Texas Tech today they are well coached and have depth,” said head coach Dean Clower. “I felt as a team we definitely got better. The team executed many things we have been working on.”
The Lady Raiders had the Cowgirls number from the start of the dual, winning the doubles point in convincing fashion. Veronica Popovici and Dorottya Jonas suffered a 6-2 loss against 25th ranked Samantha Adams and Kenna Kilgo. Christa Gecheva and Alma Espinosa also lost in their doubles matchup against Lynn Kiro and Sarah Toti 6-1, as did Jessica Parizher and Alena Vasileva to Rashmi Teltumde and Nikki Sanders, 6-2.
The Pokes did not fare much better once singles play began, dropping all six matches to the Lady Raiders to finalize their loss. Popovici lost to Kilgo at the number one position followed Sanders over Jonas in straight sets. Later on, Teltumde beat Parzher followed by Kiro over Gecheva.
On Sunday, the Cowgirls managed to rebound from the Texas Tech contest to get their first dual win of the season against the Texas State Bobcats.
Texas State struck first, however, gaining wins in two out of three doubles matches. Popovici and Jonas fell to Jessica Kahts and Ana Guttierez 6-3, and the Bobcats clinched the point on the next match with a 6-3 victory over Espinosa and Gecheva.
In singles play, the Bobcats pulled ahead 2-0 early as Kahts won in straight sets over Popovici. Jonas earned Wyoming’s first points of the day with a win in three sets to bring the score to 2-1.
From there, the Cowgirls had found a way to win. Silviya Zhelyazkova defeated the Bobcats’ Pippa Carr 6-1, 6-4. Parizher came from behind to defeat Monica Pieratt, and Gecheva clinched the match for the Cowgirls with a win at the fourth position.
“I’ve been telling our fans and the team all year we think this team had a toughness factor that is hard to teach,” said head coach Dean Clower. “If you look at the match today, we won for the simple fact that we were tough. After being down most of the way and fighting back the way we did was special. We’ve had a good start to the season but must progress further in many aspects of the game.”
The Cowgirls return to competition Friday, Feb. 7 when they host Colorado Mesa at the UW Indoor Tennis Courts. The action is set to start at 5:00 p.m.
