The Utah women’s tennis team extended their winning streak to three, as it won the final home matches of the season against Washington and Washington State. The wins increased Utah’s record to 10-7 in dual meets. The Utes won both matches 5-2.
“I am not surprised that we have won three in a row,” said head coach Mat Iandolo. “We took a few hits when we went to California on those top teams’ home courts, but our team did a good job of learning from that [experience]. They kept that in perspective and took care of business this weekend against some solid Pac-12 teams.”
Against Washington, the Utes dominated right away in doubles play. The 21st-ranked duo of Paige Miles and Tereza Bekerova continued their strong play — notching an 8-5 victory. The Utes gained the doubles point when Sarah Pham and Callie Craig eked out a 9-7 win.
In singles play, the Utes continued to perform well as they won four out of the six matches. One of the more thrilling singles matches was between Utah’s Lucia Kovarcikova and Washington’s Natali Coronel. Kovarcikova easily won the first set 6-1, but her momentum wore off in the second set. The set had to be decided by a tiebreaker, which eventually ended in a Kovarcikova win, 7-6.
“That felt really good,” Kovarcikova said of getting the win. “I had a few frustrating losses in the beginning of the year, but I have built off of it and have turned things around. I know my coach and teammates really appreciate it. Of course, getting this win was good for me individually, but it always feels great to win for the team.”
The story was much the same against Washington State as Utah won two out of three matches in doubles play to get the point, as well as winning four out of the six singles matches.
While winning is always important, this weekend had a little extra emphasis on wins since the team was competing at home.
“It is always easier to play in front of a home crowd,” Kovarcikova said. “The ball travels faster in elevation too, which compliments pretty much the entire team’s game style, and I think that really helped us in our last few matches.”
The Utes will be back on the road this weekend as they travel to take on No. 26 Rice. With the season winding down, all these matches count toward a possible postseason.
“This match [against Rice] is a really big match for us,” Iandolo said. “If we win, it pretty much guarantees us a bid to the NCAA Tournament. I think we match up well with Rice, and it will be a heck of a match. I am really looking forward to it.”