Friday, March 29th, the University of Wyoming Cowgirls took on the University of New Mexico lobos on home turf. With a 10-5 record, the Wyoming cowgirls set out to win their first conference match of the spring.
The cowgirls found early success with their first match of the conference against the lobos. The team jumped on the opportunity to gain the early lead by earning the first point of the match with their doubles.
The senior duo, Tessa van Der Ploeg and Elisa Koonik had an impressive 6-0 win over the Lobos Copas/Quevedo double. They werefollowed by Ana Royo/Maria Oreshkina 6-3 and Mihaela Kaftanova/Ida Krause 6-5 doubles to clinch the first point of the match.
After their clear win in doubles, the singles portion of the match provided a challenge for the cowgirls. Senior Elisa Koonik struggled against her opponent early, in the No. 2 singles spot by losing the first game 6-2. It appeared that she was dealing with pain in her right shoulder, and at one point received medical attention. Koonik showed perseverance, however, in the second set by making it a tighter race, but she fell short as her opponent, Bronte Murgett of the lobos, closed the match with a 7-5 win.
With the two teams tied, the freshman Oreshkina fought her way back from a first set loss, 6-4, to craftly win the next two sets, 6-2 each. Her hard fought win to get their second point was the surge the cowgirls needed to power through their lobos opponents.
Van Der Ploeg had a very demanding No. 1 singles match against her opponent, Ruth Copas of the lobos. Although the senior dominated her first set with a 6-1 win, Copas came back with answer of a 3-6 set win. The last set was as nerve-racking as it was exciting to watch the two battle down to the very last game. Van Der Ploeg used everything she had in her to get the third point for the cowgirls with a 6-4 win.
The cowgirls sealed the deal with a match win from junior Ana Royos. Despite having to win a tiebreaker in the first set, Royos nailed down the final point the cowgirls needed with a 6-4 win.
With their clear victory of 4-1, the cowgirls improved to 1-0 in the Mountain west conference and 11-5 overall.
