Staff Report
The UNM women's tennis team used the home court advantage to upset 39th-ranked Boise State University 4-3 Friday at the Lobo Tennis Club.
The Lobos (7-7) won four of the six singles matches after losing the doubles point to earn the victory and snap the Broncos' (13-3) five-game winning streak. The win boosts UNM's record against ranked teams this year to 2-5.
The deciding match occurred in the number two singles position when the Lobos' sophomore Sandy Lukowski and Boise State's Helena Lawson battled it out with the match tied at three. In the day's only three-set match, Lukowski found herself down a set after losing the first one 6-1, but fought back to dominate the next two sets to earn the win 6-2, 6-3 and give her team the victory.
"This was our biggest win of the year," UNM head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said in a press release. "We had lost three 4-3 matches in a row and it was great to finally get one to go our way. We knew they were probably a better doubles team, but we really stepped up in singles competition."
The Lobos also got strong performances by the lower position players as the four, five and six singles positions earned impressive victories. UNM freshman Michelle Heidbrink beat Erin Polowski 6-4, 6-2 in the number four position, while fellow freshman Rachel Hatley ousted Anna Curtolo in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. At the number six position, senior Courtney Choate easily got by Alissa Ayling 6-3, 6-2.
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The Lobos' losses in singles play were at the number one and three positions. UNM's top player, sophomore Tjasa Suvak, lost to the Broncos' Renate Stoop, ranked fifth in the Central Region, 6-4, 6-3. At the number three position, freshman Tiffany Robertson dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision to Jamima Hayward.
The Lobos needed the strong individual performances because they were hammered in the doubles match-ups. UNM was outscored 16-4 in the top two doubles positions. At the number one spot, Lukowski and Robertson were defeated by Stoop and Lawson 8-2. Hatley and Suvak lost by the identical score, 8-2, to Hayward and Polowski in the number two position. But UNM's Choate and Heidbrink stopped the suffering by clobbering Ayling and Curtolo 8-1 at the three position.
The Lobos begin Mountain West Conference play next weekend when they travel to Utah to take on the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
