TUCSON, Arizona – The No. 61-ranked University of Denver women's tennis team (6-3, 0-0 Summit) came up short, 1-4, to Oregon in its second of three matches during the Red Blue Invite, hosted by the University of Arizona.
Play was split across two days with doubles play taking place on Friday, February 20, before the teams wrapped up with singles on Saturday, February 21.
Doubles:
In DU's final set of matches on Friday, February 20, the Pioneers met the Ducks for doubles play only, seeing Oregon earn the point with wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 courts. Denver's No. 2 team of seniors
Louise Wikander and
Claudia Martinez de Velasco had made it to a tiebreak in their match but did not complete it before play was abandoned.
Singles:
First thing Saturday morning, Denver and Oregon retook the court to finish out the dual with singles play. The Ducks got out to a 3-0 lead after winning in two sets at No. 6 singles and then at No. 2 singles.
Sophomore
Natálie Cinková kept DU alive, winning in the No. 4 match, her fifth victory of the season, all coming in straight sets and ranking her third on the team for singles wins to begin the dual season. She claimed the first set, 6-4, and quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second. Up 5-1, she successfully served it out to bring the team scoreboard to 1-3.
Oregon was able to clinch the overall win at No. 5 singles, though it came down to a battle for the second set. DU's Martinez de Velasco rallied after dropping the first set to break in her opening return game of the second set. After going down a break later in the set, she fought back again to level things at 5-5 before Oregon's Virginia Crocker broke once more in what would be the final game to take it, 7-5.
In the two unfinished singles matches, the Pioneers had began to claw back after losing their first sets. Wikander held a 5-1 lead in the second set to be a game away from forcing a third set while fellow senior
Zoe Adkins had battled back from a break deficit in the second set to even it up at 5-5, which is where the set stood when play was abandoned.
Up Next:
The No. 61-ranked University of Denver women's tennis team wraps up its three-match weekend at the Red Blue Invite when it takes on No. 11 Arizona State on Saturday, February 21, beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m. MT.
