DALLAS – The No. 41-ranked University of Denver women's tennis team (11-4) fell 4-1 to No. 62 SMU on the road in windy conditions on Thursday afternoon.
Doubles:
The doubles point went to SMU with wins on the top two courts, starting with a win in No. 1 matchup for the nation's No. 37-ranked team of Johnson/Nylander. DU's No. 2 doubles team of freshman
Claudia Martinez de Velasco and sophomore
Andrea Burguete Beltran went down two breaks early before adding a couple breaks of their own but ultimately dropped the match to give the point to SMU.
In No. 3 doubles, freshmen
Caroline Driscoll and
Louise Wikander took a 2-0 early lead before SMU leveled the match at 3-3 and held a 4-3 lead before the match was left unfinished.
Singles:
For the second match in a row, Martinez de Velasco earned the first point of the day for Denver in winning her No. 6 singles match. SMU's Maja Makoric held in the match's first game before Martinez de Velasco ran off six straight games to take the opening set, 6-1. The Denver freshman would equal that score line in the second set to even up the team standings at 1-1.
SMU sealed the team victory with wins in Nos. 3, 4 and 5 singles. Denver fifth-year student
Taylor Melville had the lead in No. 1 singles, taking the first set, 6-2. In a back-and-forth second set that saw both players struggled to hold serve, Melville had a 6-5 edge when SMU clinched the overall win to leave their match unfinished.
Burguete Beltran had dropped her first set after giving up a late break in No. 2 singles but fought back from breaks down in the second set, sitting on a 4-3 lead when the match was ended.
Up Next:
No. 41 Denver wraps up its six-match road trip with its first Summit League away match of the season at Western Illinois on Saturday, March 25, at 12 p.m. CT/11 a.m. MT.
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