It was a victorious weekend for Cowgirl tennis. The Cowgirls hosted Metro State and Northern Colorado this weekend, sweeping both teams (7-0, 7-0) and lifting their record to 4-2.
The Cowgirls began their shutout streak Saturday by winning all three of their doubles matches. Senior Veronica Popovici and junior Jessica Parizher continued to be a force, defeating Naomi Holopainen and Taylor Larreau 8-4 in the closest match of the day.
Freshman pair Dorottya Jonas and Alena Vasileva defeated their Metro State opponents, as did the junior duo, Christa Gecheva and Alma Espinosa, each with an 8-1 victory.
The Roadrunners quickly lost momentum in the competition as the Cowgirls kept a constant drive through the singles matches, winning all six.
Popovici triumphed over MSU’s Naomi Holopainen 6-1, 6-1 and Parizher took down Wanda Holopainen 6-2, 6-2. Gecheva, junior Silviya Zhelyazkova, Vasileva and Espinosa took the remaining four singles matches in shutouts, all 6-0.
Sunday, the Cowgirls looked to close their weekend with another win over Northern Colorado, who Wyoming has beaten in 12 of their last 13 contests.
The Cowgirls swept all three doubles and won all six in singles in a repeat upset.
Striking early in doubles play, Popovici and Parizher overtook Stephanie Catlin and Beth Coton, winning 8-5 making their overall record 4-0. Jonas and Vasileva quickly gained a lead to beat UNC’s Adriana Nieto and Courtney Schulte 8-4. And to wrap up the sweep, Gecheva and Espinosa won over Chrissie Hoolahan and Laura Wehner 7-4.
In singles the Cowgirls continued to control the meeting. Popivici (6-0, 6-1), Jonas (7-6, 7-5), Parizher (6-2, 6-1), and Gecheva (6-2, 8-6), the first girls to take the court, all won their matches to put Wyoming up 5-0.
To conclude the weekend’s tennis action, Zhelyazkova faced Coton in a close contest resulting in another Wyoming success, 6-3. The very last game on the court was between Vasileva and Courtney Schulte. Both the Cowgirls and the Bears stood courtside cheering on their teammates and erupting with applause as the final points were scored.
“Definitely a good weekend,” said head coach Dean Clower. “They’re a good team coming in. They’re already 4-0 in their conference. If we didn’t come ready to play it was going to be a battle, but the girls were ready and I’m proud [of them].”
Coach Clower and the Cowgirls will travel to Nebraksa this week where they will take on the Cornhuskers on Friday.
