DENVER The No. 37 Pioneers defeated Texas El Paso 6-1 this afternoon in their first game at the Stapleton Tennis Pavilion.
Denver swept doubles play, picking up the doubles point to start the match. Annette Aksdal (Oslo, Norway) and Kaja Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) picked up the first win over Amber Brightly and Vicky Michaud 8-2 at No. 3. Mallory Voelker (Dousman, Wis.) and Julia Bauregger (Klugenfurt, Austria) clinched the doubles point for the Pioneers with the defeat of Megan Pritchard and Harmonie Chatagner 8-2 at No. 1. Freshmen Kyla Iwinski (Marietta, Ga.) and Bhavani Tirumurti (Jakarta, Indonesia) completed the doubles sweep, edging Marina Deluca and Ximena Fuentes 8-6 at No. 2.
The Pioneers were near perfect on the singles side, winning five of six. Voelker shut Deluca out 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 and Bauregger downed Fuentes 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3. Aksdal defeated Pritchard 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 to clinch the win for the Pioneers. Smole was edged by Brightly 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5, Tirumurti defeated Michaud 6-3, 7-6(4) at No. 4, and Iwinski finalized Denver’s 6-1 victory with her win over Chatagner 6-4, 7-5 at No. 6.
Voelker, Aksdal, and Bauregger all remain undefeated in singles at 10-0.
“It was wonderful to be able to play outside on our home courts for the first time this season,” freshman Mikele Smith (Denver, Colo.) said. “We dominated the net in doubles, taking control of the match early and never letting up. It is great to keep our unbeaten streak alive. Vamos Pios!”
With the victory, Denver improves to 10-0 on the season. UTEP falls to 8-3.
DU will remain at home next weekend for a trio of matches. The Pioneers will begin the weekend against Sun Belt Conference opponent North Texas on Saturday, March 8. The match is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Stapleton Tennis Pavilion.
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