The Utah women’s tennis team couldn’t have asked for a better way to start Mountain West Conference play.
The No. 44 Utes swept all three matches against MWC foes this weekend, pitting them at 3-0 to start the season.
But Utah didn’t just win8212;it dominated Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force.
“It was good to finish the weekend 3-0,” said head coach Mat Iandolo in a statement. “It puts us at first in the league and it sets us up for some very strong competition on the road next week.”
As the visiting Falcons came into town Sunday, the Utes were ready to finish what they started.
Just as they did against the Cowboys and Rams, Utah manhandled Air Force from the get-go, moving on to beat the Falcons, 6-1.
Juniors Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan set the tone for their team as they bested the tandem of Christine Abayan and Allie Chermel, 8-0.
And they wouldn’t have to look back.
Freshmen Anastasia Putilina, Lisa Johnson and Lexi Provancha were stellar as they all handily won their matches.
On Saturday, Utah faced up against a struggling Wyoming team. Despite completing the 7-0 sweep, the Utes were involved in several matches that went down to the wire.
The freshman phenom Putilina struggled against Cowgirl Sarah Summerfield, but eventually won, 7-6, 5-7, 10-5.
“I am not all that upset about having several close singles matches against an unranked team,” Iandolo said in a statement.
The Utes kicked off their three-match weekend against CSU on Friday and easily handled the Rams, defeating them 7-0. Utah was so dominant that CSU only took one out of nine matches to a third set.
Led by freshman Evgenia Kryuchkova, who, along with senior Leigh Walsh, swept the doubles match against Greer Satherlie and Rui Xu, 8-0, and also bested CSU’s Kirsten Stople in singles play, 6-0, 6-2.
The Utah men’s tennis squad had a successful weekend against a struggling opponent as well.
The 12-6 Utes defeated visiting Loyola Marymount 6-1 on Saturday.
The squad was led by Wes Hancock, Phillip Eilers and Timmy Allin.
Freshman Benito Suriano had a tough outing against Renzo Maggi of Loyola, but the 19-year-old from El Salvador escaped with the win, 6-7, 6-4, 10-3.
“I can’t think of a better way to go into our conference matches with our two victories this weekend,” said head coach F.D. Robbins in a statement. “Our guys played tough and took care of business.”
Tyler CobbErin Monson and doubles partner Andrea Maughan helped the Utes get off to a quick start against Air Force on Sunday by winning their doubles match 8-0. The team went on to beat Air Force 6-1 and giving Utah a 3-0 record in conference play.