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Lobos Defeat Denver and Kansas
UNLV Invite next up for New Mexico
Feb. 24, 2003
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The UNM women's tennis team cracked its two-game losing steak with an important 4-3 win over Denver this evening at the Lobo Tennis Club. New Mexico was victorious at two doubles and three singles spots to earn the win, with outstanding performances by the No. 1 doubles team of Maja Kovacek and Tjasa Suvak as well as Michelle Heidbrink at the No. 3 singles spot. The No. 11 regionally ranked pair of Kovacek and Suvak were predictably strong tonight against the Pioneers. The duo beat DU's No.1 seeded pair of Yanick Dullens and Barb Kourim by a convincing 8-2 score. At the No. 3 spot, the Lobo pair of Tiffany Robertson and Michelle Heidbrink were brilliant against Jenny Trettin and Stephanie Ginsburg, overtaking the Pioneer duo by a score of 8-3. UNM dropped its doubles match at the No. 2 spot. Rachel Hatley and Maria Ruiz-Fabrega played Suzie Maksovic and Beth Messaros to a 8-8 tie, before dropping the tie-breaking set, 7-5. In singles, UNM found itself up against stiff competition. Lobo sophomore Michelle Heidbrink had an impressive performance at the No. 3 spot. She handily defeated Jenny Trettin, the Pioneers' No. 29 regionally ranked player, by a 6-2, 6-2 score. Tiffany Robertson had little trouble with her competitior, Stephanie Ginsburg, at the No. 4 spot. Robertson decisively put away Ginsburg, 6-1, 6-3 for her third singles win of the spring season. Rachel Hatley played two strong sets against DU's Rossi Thomas for a 6-3, 6-3 Lobo win. Maria Ruiz-Fabrega fell to Barb Kourim at the No. 5 spot this evening, 6-4, 6-1. Tjasa Suvak met the same fate as teammate Ruiz-Fabrega at the No. 2 spot for New Mexico. The junior played two extremely competitive sets, but was unable to get past Suzie Makovic and eventually fell, 6-4, 6-1.
In the last game of the evening, Maja Kovacek, UNM's No. 1 ranked and No. 7
regionally ranked player, faced a tough match in Denver's Yanick Dullen.
Kovacek won the first set 6-3 and then fell to Dullen in the second by a
close 6-4 margin. The tie-breaking set was played to ten. The two players
went back and forth for more than seven points, exchanging leads, before
Kovacek missed her final serve giving Dullens the 10-8 win.
The win against Denver improves the Lobos to 3-2 on the season and puts them in good position to face No. 46 Kansas at 12 p.m. Sunday at the Lobo Tennis Club.
Lobos Down No. 46 Kansas, 7-0ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In one of the most crucial matches of the year so far, the UNM women¹s tennis team proved that it is able to overpower national tennis powerhouses. The Lobos blanked No. 46 Kansas at the Lobo Tennis club today, 7-0, to improve its record to 4-2. In singles, New Mexico was victorious at every spot and managed to earn the all important doubles point with two wins at the No. 2 and 3 spots. The No. 1 doubles team of Maja Kovacek and Tjasa Suvak were the only Lobos to drop a match today. The duo came up against tough competition in the pair of Courtney Steinbock and Paige Brown, who ended up defeating the Lobo pair, 8-5. Maria Ruiz-Fabrega and Rachel Hatley were in top form at the No. 2 doubles position. They were able to outlast Kristen Steinbock and Christine Skoda, defeating the Jayhawk pair 8-5. The most decisive doubles win of the day came from Tiffany Robertson and Michelle Heidbrink at the No. 3 position. The two handily defeated Emily Haylock and Luiza Loureizo, 8-4, improving their spring doubles record to an almost perfect 5-1. It seemed the Lobos had little difficulty in singles this afternoon, recording an impressive 6-0 record against the powerful and experienced Jayhawk side. Maja Kovacek, coming off a disappointing loss to Denver¹s Yanick Dullens on Friday, was looking to get an important win under her belt today. The freshman was defeated by KU¹s Courtney Steinbock in the first set but came back to win the next two, 6-2, 6-3, for the victory. Tjasa Suvak was also looking to put Friday¹s singles loss to Suzie Makovic behind her. Suvak came out in prime shape today against Paige Brown. She took the Jayhawk to two sets, winning both for a final score of 6-2, 6-3. Michelle Heidbrink, who played in the final singles match of the day, improved her weekend record to 2-0 and her overall spring singles mark to an even 3-3 by defeating her KU opponent. Heindbrink topped Emily Haylock 7-6 in the first set before Haylock came back 7-6 in the second. The two went to a third set tie-breaker, which Heidbrink breezed through 10-4. The final three Lobos to secure wins at the No. 4, 5 and 6 spots were Tiffany Robertson, Rachel Hatley and Maria Ruiz-Fabrega. Robertson took to the courts against Kansas¹ Christine Skoda. The Lobo sophomore defeated Skoda with ease, 6-2, 6-4. Hatley also came away with a win against Kansas. She faced Kim Lorenz and breezed by the Jayhawk, 6-1, 6-3. Ruiz-Fabrega improved her spring singles record to 4-2 with her win today over Luiza Louriezo. Although the match was close, Ruiz-Fabrega held a 7-5, 7-5 advantage in both sets to earn the win. The Lobo tennis team will return to competition Feb. 28-Mar. 2 at the UNLV Invite in Las Vegas, Nev. Teams at the invite will include host MWC school UNLV, Southwest Missouri State, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount, NAU, Montana State and Oklahoma. |
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