Cowgirl tennis swept Colorado State Saturday 7-0 to close out their conference season 4-1 with an overall record of 10-7.
“To defeat Colorado State in the fashion we did was a great way to close out the conference season,” head coach Dean Clower told gowyo.com. “We are very proud of the players for their commitment to the process along with their toughness and resiliency they’ve shown all year long.”
The Cowgirls were not cutting any slack, as the Rams were not allowed a single point all weekend. In doubles, all three matches were taken by Wyoming.
In the third slot, the first to finish was redshirt freshman Alena Vasileva and junior Silviya Zhelyazkova (4-2). Sophomore Mollie Cooper and sophomore Maddie Buxton fell to Vasileva and Zhelyazkova 8-5.
Junior Christa Gecheva and junior Alma Espinosa (12-8) defeated senior Lauren Pick and senior Kaley Schultz 8-7 followed by a tie-breaking round of 8-6.
Finishing out the double matches was Wyoming duo freshman Dorottya Jonas and senior Veronica Popovici (13-12) in a triumph over junior Natalie Heffron and junior Adriana Wojakowska 8-6.
In singles, the first three slots were clean sweeps from Popovici, 6-2, 6-2, Jonas, 6-4, 6-1 and Zhelyazkova, 6-0, 6-1. The three singles matches sealed off the win for the Cowgirls before the last four slots came to an end.
Gecheva fought a battle against CSU’s Mollie Cooper and came out on top 6-1, 7-6 to put Wyoming up 4-0.
Finishing the singles matches of the day, Vasileva (13-10) and Espinosa (9-13) both took their opponents in sets of three. Both Cowgirls fell in their first match to CSU, but fought back to take the next two, Vasileva 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 and Espinosa 4-6, 6-2, 7-6.
“From top to bottom, this team has stuck with it and the results started to show during MW play,” said Clower. “The victory for Alma was huge as she has the heart of a champion along with the other players. They will get a well-deserved day off… and set our eyes on the conference tournament.”
Coming off their third consecutive win, the Cowgirls (#5) have become contenders entering the Mountain West Championships Friday, April 25 where they will face Boise State (#4) in the quarterfinals.
The match is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Fresno, Calif. The winner of the quarterfinal match will move on to the semifinals on Saturday April 26.
