Sophomore Silviya Zhelyazkova returns a ball at a previous match. The team has finished its regular season 10-11 overall, with 4-4 in the MW conference.
The Cowgirls tennis team began its weekend with a tough loss to the 41st ranked team San Diego State falling 5-1 by the end of the event Friday. However, the team came back strong on Saturday to finish with a 4-2 victory over the 61st ranked UNLV Rebels in Ft. Collins. The women finished the regular season 10-11 overall and 4-4 in MW play this spring.
During Friday’s match-up, the Cowgirls and Aztecs were forced indoors due to weather conditions and were only able to play singles matches. San Diego State dominated the action as they won at the one, two, three, five and six spots.
Julia Wais defeated Veronica Popovici, 6-2, 6-0, followed by Alicia Aguilar with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Simona Synkova. At the number six position, Silviya Zhelyazkova lost to Michela Casanova, 6-1, 6-3. The Aztecs clinched the match as Laura Antonana-Iriarte defeated Alexandra Kovacs, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. Tami Nguyen came out on top against Jessica Parizher with a 7-5, 7-6 win. The only Cowgirl to earn a victory was senior Sasa Nemcova who beat Kristin Buth in three sets, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (5).
In Saturday’s match against UNLV, Wyoming took an early lead as the Cowgirls swept all three matches to win the first point of the day. The number one team of Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova battled to a 9-7 win over Lucia Batta and Nives Pavlovic. Alexandra Kovacs and Sasa Nemcova followed with an 8-6 victory against Aleksandra Josifoska and Janine Erasmus while Jessica Parizher and Silviya Zhelyazkova beat Iren Kotseva and Ella Bourchier 8-3.
UNLV took charge after falling behind early on by winning the first two singles matches to regain a 2-1 lead. Josifoska, who is ranked 37th in the latest ITA rankings, defeated Popovici, 7-5, 6-1, while 82nd ranked Batta beat Synkova, 6-3, 6-2. The Cowgirls took back the momentum as Kovacs fell in the first set, 6-1, to Pavlovic but rallied to win the final two sets, 6-3, 6-3. Nemcova followed at the fourth spot and defeated Erasmus in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. They would clinch the match when Parizher came away with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bourchier. Zhelyazkova had won the first set 6-4 in her match against Iren Kotseva, but the match was not completed.
The Cowgirls will return to the court next week when they play in the 2013 Mountain West Championships, scheduled for Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
