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LARAMIE -- In their first home tennis match in nearly two years, the Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team treated the home fans to a show as the Cowgirls defeated Weber State Friday afternoon, 7-0.
The Cowgirls won all three doubles matches Friday and didn’t drop a set during singles play on the way to the win.
Wyoming (5-4) jumped out early on the Wildcats (2-4), with an impressive display during doubles. At No. 1, the team of Noesjka Brink and Maria Oreshkina won 6-2, at No. 2, Ana Fernandez and Sophie Zehender defeated Megan Davies and Pei-Hsuan Kuo, 6-1 while at the No. 3 spot, the team of Lucia Malinak and Maria Oreshkina won 6-4 to put UW up 1-0 in the match.
On the singles side, the Cowgirls were just as impressive in the six singles victories. At the No. 1 position, Oreshkina battled her way to a 7-5, 6-3 win over Weber State’s Yuuna Ukita. At No. 2, Sophie Zehender had a solid 6-4, 6-0 win over Ana Morrett Salas and at the No. 3 spot, Ana Fernandez bested Megan Lombardi 6-3, 6-4. Lucia Malinak made quick work of Kuo of WSU at No. 4, dropping just one game in her 6-0, 6-1 victory as Wyoming built its lead to 5-0 in the match after the first set of singles matches.
The momentum continued for the Cowgirls in the final two singles matches of the day as Brink won 6-4, 6-2 at the fifth position over Megan Davies and rounding things out in singles play was Ida Krause, as she bested Ana Gonzalez, 7-5 and 6-1 at the No. 6 spot.
“We played pretty good today, but what I think was really good was the intensity that we played with,” said UW head coach Dean Clower after the match. “We didn’t take points off, we were constantly executing our style of tennis, whether we were winning points or not, so I was pretty happy with the attitudes and the style of play.
“I don’t think words can express how happy we were to play at home and to be able to play in front of our fans. The girls were tired, they’re on the road all the time and this was just like having your favorite pillow, home is home and it was great, and the crowd, I love our crowd, best fans in the country by far.”
The Cowgirls and Weber State aren’t done yet this weekend, as the two teams will meet again Saturday morning in Laramie. First serve is set for 10 a.m.
“To have the same result tomorrow as tonight, we have to do exactly what we did today,” continued Clower. “We need to stick to our guns, stick to what we do well. If we do that, we’ll be fine, if we go away from it, we’ll struggle.”
Wyoming vs. Weber State
3/5/21 at Laramie, Wyo.
Wyoming 7, Weber State 0
Doubles competition
1. Noesjka Brink/Maria Oreshkina (WYO) def. Ana Morrett Salas/Yuuna Ukita (WSU) 6-2
2. Ana Fernandez/Sophie Zehender (WYO) def. Megan Davies/Pei-Hsuan Kuo (WSU) 6-1
3. Lucia Malinak/Maria Oreshkina (WYO) def. Ana Gonzalez/Megan Lombardi (WSU) 6-4
Singles competition
1. Oreshkina (WYO) def. Ukita (WSU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Zehender (WYO) def. Morett Salas (WSU) 6-4, 6-0
3. Fernandez (WYO) def. Lombardi (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Malinak (WYO) def. Kuo (WSU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Brink (WYO) def. Davies (WSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ida Krause (WYO) def. Gonzalez (WSU) 7-5, 6-1