As the Lady Stangs wrapped up their California trip, the looked to get a win and come home on a high note. It was a close match against Sonoma State that went back and forth but WNMU came out on the short end 6-3.
Sonoma State took an early lead in the double matches winning two of the three. Gianna Tiurina/Nikolina Vukadin got WNMU off to a fast start with an 8-4 win at the #1 doubles spot. Ashley Newell/Doris Berberic kept it close but were broken late and fell 8-5 in the #2 spot. Davida Aragon/Dena Irvin lost 8-3 to give Sonoma State the momentum.
But WNMU came back in the singles as Tiurina won her match 6-4, 6-3 and #2 Vukadin followed suit 6-4, 7-5. That put WNMU up 1 in the match but it didn’t last for long as Newell fell in #3 singles 7-5, 6-1 and Berberic dropped her matches 6-7, 6-4, 4-6. Irvin struggled at #5 losing 6-1, 6-0 while Aragon went 3 sets but fell 7-6, 3-6, 2-6.
WNMU will return to action the weekend of March 24th with matches against Idaho State and Dixie State in Las Vegas NV.
It wasn’t a true road match nor was it a home match for either team but WNMU got the victory over Sonoma State in men’s tennis 5-4. WNMU is wrapping up a long road trip and Sonoma State is headed to Southern California, so the two teams decided to meet in Glendale AZ for their match.
The Mustangs fell behind after the opening doubles matches 2-1 as the #1 team of Johan Weich/Juan Pablo Fuentes picked up the win for the purple and gold 8-5. Western’s #2 doubles team Rodrigo Almeida/Jean Benoit Belin dropped a close match 6-8 and Matthieu Covizzi/Roy Ulibarri lost at the #3 spot, 8-3. As singles play started, the Seawolves looked to have the definite advantage.
Weich lost at the #1 spot in 3 sets, 6-2, 3-6 and 1-6. Fuentes got WNMU’s first singles win with an easy 6-4, 6-0 win. Covizzi went three sets as well for the Mustangs but couldn’t pull out the win losing 6-4, 2-6, 4-6. Coach Guy Dupont has learned he can count on the bottom of the order and Friday was no different. Almeida got things going with a walk in his #4 seed match, 6-1, 6-3. Belin followed up with another easy win 6-2, 6-2. That left it down to Ulibarri in the #6 position as the match was tied. Ulibarri picked up the first set in a tiebreak, 7-5 before losing the second set 1-6. He was able to recover and won a close third set 6-4 and pulled out the victory for the Mustangs.
WNMU will have a couple of weeks off before heading to Nevada for the Las Vegas Collegiate Invite featuring Idaho State, Weber State, Seattle University and UC Riverside. WNMU will play all 5 schools in 3 days, a good test for playing in the NCAA tournament.
Just like the men’s team, WNMU’s Lady Stangs tennis is spending their spring break taking on the top competition in the country. Coming off of an impressive victory over Grossmont College, WNMU faced #19 UC San Diego yesterday dropping the contest 8-1.
In the opening doubles matches WNMU got off to a slow start as Ganna Tiurina and Nikolina Vukadin lost 8-0 followed by Ashley Newell and Doris Berberic losing 8-1 and Davida Aragon and Dena Irvin losing 8-2.
Gianna found her game at the #1 singles match taking the first set 7-5 before losing in three sets 3-6 and 6-7. Nikolina Vukadin lost at #2 6-3, 6-2 but Ashley Newell got the Stangs’ lone point at #3 singles winning 6-3, 7-6. Doris Berberic, Davida Aragon and Dena Irvin all dropped their singles matches 6-0, 6-0. WNMU will close out the trip at Sonoma State on Friday.
WNMU Men’s tennis continued their California spring break trip playing against top ranked teams. Their first match was against #2 Fresno Pacific University followed yesterday by a visit to #16 UC-San Diego. WNMU fell to the Tritons 7-2. The Tritons remained undefeated at home and ran their winning streak to 8 matches. The Mustangs fall to 4-5 on the season.
Juan Pablo Fuentes and Johan Weich fell at #1 doubles 8-4 while Rodrigo Almeida and Jean Benoit Belin moved to #2 doubles falling 8-4 as well. Roy Ulibarri and Omar Lopez dropped their #3 doubles match by a score of 8-3.
Singles matches were competitive but UCSD was able to get the points that counted. Weich dropped his #1 singles 6-1, 6-3 and Fuentes fell at #2 6-3, 6-0. Almeida picked up WNMU’s first win of the day at #3 singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win. Matthieu Covizzi fell in #4 singles 6-3, 6-1. WNMU’s second win came at #5 singles as Belin pulled out an exciting 7-6, 7-5 victory. Roy Ulibarri dropped the final match 6-1, 6-0. WNMU will conclude their CA trip at Sonoma State on Friday.
WNMU men’s tennis faced the #2 team in the nation Tuesday and found out they have some more work to do if they want to compete against the best teams in the country. WNMU was swept by Fresno Pacific University 9-0. The Mustangs may have been a bit rusty not having played in 2 weeks after NMMI canceled their scheduled match for last weekend but that may not have made a big difference.
In the opening doubles matches, Welch/Fuentes lost 8-1; Almeida/Belin came close losing 8-6 and Lopez/Ulibarri battled to an 8-5 loss. Welch then lost at #1 singles 6-1, 6-0 while Fuentes also won only one game losing in straight sets. Couizzi lost 6-1, 6-0 at #3 singles and Almeida had the best showing at #4 losing 6-4, 6-4. Belin lost 6-1, 6-1; Ulibarri lost 6-2, 6-2. WNMU continues their California swing today with a match against UC San Diego.
The Lady Stangs felt like they let one get away losing both games to RMAC foe UCCS yesterday. In today’s double header, WNMU roared back to get convincing wins 17-11 in game one followed by a 19-6 route in the night cap.
In the opener it looked like it was going to be another close game as both teams pushed across 3 runs in the first inning. WNMU scored the lone run in the second inning to take a 4-3 lead into the third. Then the bats exploded for WNMU with 5 runs to UCCS’s lone run and the Mustangs had a 9-4 lead. But the Panthers would keep WNMU scoreless in the 4th inning while their bats rocked the Mustangs for 5 runs to tie the game. The Stangs would then get three runs in the 6th and 5 in the 7th inning holding UCCS to 2 runs over their last 3 innings.
The Mustangs put up 17 runs on 21 hits while leaving 7 runners on base. Aimee Vasquez was 4-5 at the plate with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. Mariah McDonald had 3 hits in 5 appearances to drive in 2 runs and score 3 herself. Kaitlynn Barnes was 4-4 from the plate scoring 3 and bringing home 2 runs. Ashley Gonzales was also strong with 3 hits in 4 appearances and 2 runs scored. Arriel Smith went the distance for the Mustangs giving up 14 hits, 11 earned runs while walking 2 and striking out 2.
In the 2nd game of the day it took a little longer for WNMU to get going after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning. The score remained that way until the third inning when the Mustangs exploded for 7 runs followed by 5 in the fourth, 1 run in the fifth and 6 runs in the sixth to end the game on the run rule.
McDonald continued her hot hitting with 3 hits in 4 at bats scoring 3 times. Ashley Eichenberger also had 3 hits in for appearances driving in 1 run and scoring 2 times as well. Brittney Batten was also 3 of 4 at the plate driving in 3 runs and scoring 3 times. Ashley Gonzales led the Stangs with 4 RBI on 2 hits. Courtney Graf also added 3 RBI on 3 hits. Arriel Smith started the game at pitcher with Bri Robles out due to an injury. Smith go her second win of the day going 2.2 innings allowing 1 hit, 1 earned run and 3 walks. Ricki Gentry then came on in relief giving up 5 hits and 4 earned runs in 3.1 innings of work. Brittney Batten saw time on the mound as well.
WNMU improves to 6-2 in the RMAC and will face intrastate rival NM Highlands on Wednesday for a double header in Las Vegas NM.
WNMU women’s golf improved from 19th to 16th place after the final round of the Red Rocks Invitational Golf Tournament hosted by Northern Arizona University. WNMU’s team score in round 2 was 13 strokes better than their opening round 344. Eastern Michigan took the team title with rounds of 305 & 298; the 298 was the only score under 305 out of the 20 teams competing. Caitlin McReary of Seattle University took top individual honors with rounds of 72 and 75.
For the Mustangs Faylyn Beyale matched her opening round 79 to finish in 24th place. Hayley Raymond finished with an 84, two strokes better than her first round score tied for 78th. Arrianna Estrada was close behind with 88-85 followed by Bianca Dominguez. Dominguez, a former Deming Wildcat, shot an 83 after opening with a 94. Katie Moats carded an 87 to go with her first round 91 to round out the Mustang scoring. While the rounds may not seem impressive, Oakcreek Country Club is a very difficult course; the average round was 83 for the tournament with tough weather conditions on day 1.
WNMU Lady Stangs golf battled tough conditions and tough competition in Day 1 action at the Red Rocks Invitational hosted by Northern Arizona University. The tournament features a number of Division 1 teams with WNMU among the only DII teams competing. WNMU is in 19th place after the first 18 holes. Faylyn Beyale leads the Mustangs with a first round 79 and is in a tie for 29th place overall. Haley Raymond shot an 86 followed by Arrianna Estrada with an 88. Katie Moats added a 91 and Bianca Dominguez carded a 94 to round out the Mustang scoring. Eastern Michigan leads the tournament by 4 strokes over Seattle and 7 over Xavier. Play concludes today.
WNMU softball hit the road this weekend riding high on a 4 game sweep of Adams State last weekend. But winning on the road in the RMAC is tough and Saturday’s action at UC-Colorado Springs would prove to be no exception as UCCS won 10-2 in the opener and came back to get an extra innings win 8-7 in the nightcap.
WNMU struck first in game one as Ashley Eichenberger would cross the plate to put the Stangs up 1-0 but Bri Robles struggled early as UCCS answered with 5 runs in their half of the opening inning to build a big lead. Robles settled down a bit but UCCS added 2 more runs in the second inning and another in the fourth while WNMU was not able to score. Eichenberger added the only other WNMU run in the fifth with an RBI single. Robles was hit in the hand in the fourth inning and had to leave the game with Arriel Smith coming on in relief. UCCS added 2 more runs in the sixth and the game was called on the run rule.
In game two WNMU again got off to a quick start as Aimee Vasquez singled to open the game. Following a UCCS error and a fielder’s choice, the Stangs had two runners on with one out and Kaitlynn Barnes at the plate. Barnes hit a single to bring Mariah McDonald home followed by a Stephanie Barnes single to bring Eichenberger across the plate. Arriel Smith kept the UCCS bats quiet and it was a pitching duel into the fourth inning. Then Jessica Jayo hammered a solo home run to given WNMU the 3-0 lead.
UCCS got their first runs in the sixth inning on a two run homer. WNMU tried to put the game away in the seventh inning as McDonald opened with a single, Eichenberger then reached on a walk and Barnes lined a double into right-center field and the Lady Stangs had a 5-2 lead. Brittney Batten then hit a groundout driving Barnes home while Jayo continued her hot streak on the next at bat with a 2nd solo home run. WNMU ended their half of the seventh up 7-2.
WNMU allowed the first batter to reach base on an error and that seemed to give the home team some momentum. The next batter was put out but the Panthers followed with a singe, double and a homer to put 4 runs on the board and pull within 1 run of the Mustangs. With two outs a double brought home the tying run and the game went into extra innings. WNMU left two runners on base in the eighth while Smith retired the Panthers in order to take the game into the ninth inning. WNMU threatened as Higgins reached third base after hitting a single and a Batten single. Jayo hit a deep fly ball and Higgins tagged but was gunned down at the plate. A strikeout ended the Stangs’ inning.
UCCS then won the game on an opening double followed by a passed ball and a wild pitch to score the run. WNMU and UCCS face off in a double header today.
WNMU Lady Stangs tennis played a tough early season schedule before returning home this weekend for a pair of matches. It looks like the tough competition paid off as WNMU got a sweep beating New Mexico Military Institute on Friday 8-1 and then coming back against Eastern Arizona College on Saturday to gain the 5-4 win.
The weekend’s action began Friday afternoon in cold windy conditions but that didn’t seem to bother the Lady Stangs who were hosting a rare home match. The #1 doubles tandem of Ganna Tiurina and Nikolina Vukadin rolled to an 8-1 victory to start the ball rolling. Dena Irvin and Davida Aragon closed out their match quickly as well with an 8-1 win at #3 doubles. Ashley Newell and Doris Berberic were tested early but got the 8-4 win.
In singles action Tiurina rolled 6-0, 6-3; Vukadin won 6-2, 6-3 while Newell cruised to another easy win 6-0 and 6-3. Doris Berberic dominated at #4 singles with a 6-0, 6-4 victory; Aragon had a tough match but came back to get the 6-4, 6-3 win. Irvin battled injuries all day and couldn’t get the win in singles losing 0-6, 1-6.
WNMU then faced Eastern Arizona College, a nationally ranked junior college team coming off of a 5-4 victory over NMMI on Friday. It would be a much more exciting match as EAC took two of the three opening doubles matches. Aragon and Irvin garnered the only WNMU win at 8-4. Giurina and Vukadin ran into a buzz saw losing 1-8 and Newell/Berberic battled but fell 9-7.
In singles action Tiurina fell 6-1, 6-1 while Vukadin lost 6-2, 6-1 to put the Lady Stangs in an early 4-1 hole. Things looked good for EAC needing just one more point to get the victory. But unlike years past, the lower part of the order for Coach Guy Dupont answered the call. Newell won her match at #3 6-0, 7-6. Berberic continued the momentum with a 6-3, 6-4 victory and the comeback was on. Aragon moved to #4 in the rotation with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win. That left Erica Rasmussen at #6 with all the pressure. Rasmussen won the opener 6-0 but fell behind in the 2nd set 0-4 before coming back to win 6-4 with the help of a raucous home crowd. That win pulled out the 5-4 team victory for WNMU.
WNMU men and women head to California for three matches beginning with Grossmont College on Monday.
