The Wyoming Cowgirl’s Tennis team had a tough outing last week, losing 5-2 while competitors Jessica Parizher and Silviya Zhelyazkova saw victories against the Denver Pioneers. With the loss, the Cowgirl’s record now stands at 5-4 in the Mountain West Conference.
Prior to Feb. 25, the Cowgirls team was ranked No. 64 in the nation. The top five reported teams leading the national rankings are North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Florida and Alabama.
The MW reports from the game show that Denver took two of the three matches in doubles play on Friday to earn the point. Cowgirls Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova both had tightly contested matches against the Pioneers, but lost in a tiebreaker with a final score of 9-8 (4). These two athletes were recently recognized for playing in both doubles and singles play. This spring, they were ranked 52 nationally and second in the Mountain Region while they left the fall season ranked No. 21.
Struggling in the singles play, the team came up short, only winning two matches when they needed to win three. Sasa Nemvoca won her match 7-6, 6-3 while Jessica Parizher won 6-1,6-3. Sitting at the No. 1 spot prior to the competition, Popovici fell behind during her first set with a score of 6-4 but had a comeback in the second set winning 6-3. However, during Popovici’s third set, she fell short and lost 6-1 in the third set. Synkova found herself following the same trend as she fought back for a win in the second set, but could not keep up, losing the third.
The Cowgirls next meet will be against the University of Utah Utes Tuesday in Salt Lake City. Losing in their last competition against the team, the Cowgirls anticipate a victory. The match-up will mark the 20th meeting between the two schools. The Utes are ranked 5-2 overall in the conference.
Photos Courtesy: UW Athletics
