MEMPHIS – The University of Denver women's tennis team (10-5, 2-0 Summit) started its spring break with a 4-2 win at Memphis on Wednesday afternoon.
 
DU rebounded after dropping the doubles point to win four of the five completed singles matches, all in straight sets.
 
Doubles:
Host team Memphis started the dual with a 1-0 lead after winning the double point off matching 6-3 wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 court. The first to wrap up was the No. 3 match featuring DU's Zoe Adkins and Natálie Cinková, which saw the two Pioneers start to fight back from a 5-0 deficit, getting to 5-3 before Memphis' Frant/Mall stopped the rally.
 
DU senior Marley Lambert and freshman Yunfei Cai held a break early in their match at the No. 1 spot, but a four-game win streak for their opponents ultimately led to the clinching win for the Tigers.
 
In the unfinished doubles match, seniors Claudia Martinez de Velasco and Louise Wikander were knotted up at 4-4 when the match was abandoned.
 
Singles:
Denver began its comeback with a convincing win from Lambert on Court 3 with the senior dropping only four games for her third consecutive singles win and her strongest showing yet in dual match play. She recovered from a break down in the first set to win six consecutive games cross both sets, starting with the final four of the opening set. Memphis' Natalia Koppova got on the board in the third game of the second set, but Lambert would again win four games in a row to finish it off at 6-1.
 
Freshman Cai continued her hot start to her NCAA career with her eighth straight-sets win in a dual match and giving Denver its first lead of the day at 2-1. She broke twice in the first set on her way to a 6-4 win. Like Lambert, she carried momentum into the second set, winning the first four games and finishing it with just one game lost in the frame.
 
Memphis leveled the overall scoreboard at 2-2 after winning what would be its only singles win of the match, doing so at the No. 1 slot. Adkins reclaimed the Denver lead in straight set at No. 3 singles, capturing both set with matching 6-4 scores for the second time in the last month. She held a break lead through much of the first set but saw Memphis' Alicia Mall draw level at 4-4. The DU senior responded with another break, though, to take the set advantage. The second set remained on serve until Adkins broke for 5-4 and served it out in the next game.
 
For the second time in 2026, Cinková clinched the dual for DU, doing so in a hard-fought win in two sets at No. 4 singles. After going down a break midway through the first set, she rattled off four consecutive games to take it, 6-4. She again started in a deficit in the second set, this time clawing back from 5-0 down and winning the set's final seven games.
 
The only abandoned singles match saw senior Hana Bečirovič Novak up a break in the third set after each player claimed a 6-2 set to start play off.
 
Up Next:
The No. 59-ranked University of Denver women's tennis team plays again in Memphis on Friday, March 27, in a neutral-site match against Xavier at 12 p.m. CT/11 a.m. MT.