Wednesday, March 1
Denver, Colorado
12:00 p.m. MT
University of Denver
6
vs
1
Wyoming
Photo by: Brittany Evans
No. 39 Denver Women’s Tennis Claims 6-1 Win Over Wyoming
3/1/2023 3:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DU sweeps singles victories without dropping a set on Wednesday
DENVER – The No. 39-ranked University of Denver women's tennis team (6-2) topped Wyoming, 6-1, in a Wednesday afternoon match at Denver Tennis Park.
DU recovered after narrowly dropping the doubles point to claim straight-sets wins in all six singles matches.
Doubles:
DU had the early doubles lead after its No. 3 team of senior Britt Pursell and freshman Anastasia Simonov broke in the final game for a 6-4 win. Wyoming evened things up with a 6-3 win in No. 1 doubles.
The doubles point came down to the No. 2 court. Wyoming's Oreshkina/Borodina had an early break over DU's team of fifth-year student Taylor Melville and freshman Louise Wikander, but the Denver duo broke back for 4-4 and then broke to serve for it at 6-5. Wyoming cracked a return winner to get back on serve and force the tiebreaker. Both teams had at least one match point, but it was UW that would win it, 9-7.
Singles:
Denver's singles squad fought back after the disappointment in doubles and won all 12 sets played – collecting two bagels and four more sets with only one or two games last.
Freshman Caroline Driscoll wrapped the first match for Denver, nearly doing so with a double bagel in No. 5 singles. Driscoll served for the match at 6-0 5-0 but was broken, though she immediately broke again to claim the 6-1 set.
Wikander, too, earned a bagel, hers coming in the second set. She set herself up for the win with breaks in the fifth and seventh games before serving it out, 6-2.
Pursell lost just four games in her two sets, winning the first set, 6-3, after breaking in the crucial seventh game. After an early break in the second set, she added another break to go up 5-1 and held serve to close out the match.
Sophomore Andrea Burguete Beltran's two sets in No. 2 singles followed similar formulas. In both sets, she broke in the first game before breaking again for a 5-2 lead and holding serve to win.
Freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco had a two-break lead in the first set of No. 6 singles. After Wyoming's Lucia Malinak got one break back for 5-4, Martinez de Velasco held on her second attempt at serving for it. The DU freshman finally claimed a break lead in the eighth game of the second set and held for the 6-3 win.
Melville came out hot in her first set on court 1, breaking for 3-1 and then again for 5-1, eventually winning it on her second chance to serve for it. She traded breaks early in the second set before breaking late for a 6-5 lead and punctuated the win with an ace up 40-15.
Up Next:
No. 39 DU begins Summit League play when it hosts Omaha on Saturday, March 4, at 1:30 p.m. MT at Denver Tennis Park. Denver will also host Summit League opponent St. Thomas on the morning of March 5 for its first match of a double header before traveling down to Air Force that evening.
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Tennis on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WTennis on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WTennis on Instagram
DU recovered after narrowly dropping the doubles point to claim straight-sets wins in all six singles matches.
Doubles:
DU had the early doubles lead after its No. 3 team of senior Britt Pursell and freshman Anastasia Simonov broke in the final game for a 6-4 win. Wyoming evened things up with a 6-3 win in No. 1 doubles.
The doubles point came down to the No. 2 court. Wyoming's Oreshkina/Borodina had an early break over DU's team of fifth-year student Taylor Melville and freshman Louise Wikander, but the Denver duo broke back for 4-4 and then broke to serve for it at 6-5. Wyoming cracked a return winner to get back on serve and force the tiebreaker. Both teams had at least one match point, but it was UW that would win it, 9-7.
Singles:
Denver's singles squad fought back after the disappointment in doubles and won all 12 sets played – collecting two bagels and four more sets with only one or two games last.
Freshman Caroline Driscoll wrapped the first match for Denver, nearly doing so with a double bagel in No. 5 singles. Driscoll served for the match at 6-0 5-0 but was broken, though she immediately broke again to claim the 6-1 set.
Wikander, too, earned a bagel, hers coming in the second set. She set herself up for the win with breaks in the fifth and seventh games before serving it out, 6-2.
Pursell lost just four games in her two sets, winning the first set, 6-3, after breaking in the crucial seventh game. After an early break in the second set, she added another break to go up 5-1 and held serve to close out the match.
Sophomore Andrea Burguete Beltran's two sets in No. 2 singles followed similar formulas. In both sets, she broke in the first game before breaking again for a 5-2 lead and holding serve to win.
Freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco had a two-break lead in the first set of No. 6 singles. After Wyoming's Lucia Malinak got one break back for 5-4, Martinez de Velasco held on her second attempt at serving for it. The DU freshman finally claimed a break lead in the eighth game of the second set and held for the 6-3 win.
Melville came out hot in her first set on court 1, breaking for 3-1 and then again for 5-1, eventually winning it on her second chance to serve for it. She traded breaks early in the second set before breaking late for a 6-5 lead and punctuated the win with an ace up 40-15.
Up Next:
No. 39 DU begins Summit League play when it hosts Omaha on Saturday, March 4, at 1:30 p.m. MT at Denver Tennis Park. Denver will also host Summit League opponent St. Thomas on the morning of March 5 for its first match of a double header before traveling down to Air Force that evening.
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Tennis on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WTennis on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WTennis on Instagram
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
1
Sophie Zehender/ Ana Fernandez [WYO]
6
3
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
Sophie Zehender / 0 [WYO]
35
67
#2 Singles Match
12
Maria Oreshkina / 0 [WYO]
32
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Violetta Borodina / 0 [WYO]
31
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Ana Fernandez / 0 [WYO]
20
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Adel Ismagulova / 0 [WYO]
01
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Lucia Malinak / 0 [WYO]
43
66
Order of Finish:
5,4,3,2,6,1
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