The New Mexico women’s tennis team will send pair of Lobos to the ITA All-American Championships.
The team is still not at full strength — Andrea Leblanc has successfully rehabbed from an injury that kept her out of action last week, but Emily Olivier will likely miss this weekend due to illness.
Last week, the team split to participate in two invitationals and turned in solid performances in both. A release said the team went a collective 15-5 in singles play and 9-3 in doubles play.
Assistant coach Colby Meeks took four seniors to the Colorado Invitational, which showcased a field of Georgetown, Arkansas, Colorado and Colorado State.
The Lobos opened by winning five of its six doubles matches on the opening day of the Colorado Invitational, with the team trying out multiple combinations against Georgetown.
In singles play, Colorado’s Nuria Ormeño Ruiz captured the gold draw singles title at the invitational. She took down Georgetown’s Sophie Barnard, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, New Mexico’s Rachana Bhat defeated Colorado’s Kyra Wojcik, 6-1, 6-4 to take singles in the black draw. Emily Oliver advanced to the semi-final round before being eliminated by Wojcik, 6-3, 6-2 in the same draw.
At the New Mexico State Invitational, freshman Diana Wong won her draw. She defeated Lois Wagenvoort of Utep, 7-5, 6-2 in the championship round.
Fellow newcomer Cassie Chung fought her way through the consolation bracket to come out on top as well. She took out Western New Mexico’s Tiffany Newell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Leblanc missed the tournament due to injury, which forced Ruth Copas to pair with New Mexico State’s Eli Arnoudova. They made it all the ways to the finals before falling to Arnoudova’s Aggie teammates — Lindsay Harlas and Vanessa Valdez — 8-5.
Head coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada said Leblanc is back now and ready to compete in the ITA All-American Championships.
She will accompany Leblanc to the championships, where she will compete in singles. Leblanc will also join Rachana Bhat to try to advance into the main draw in doubles.
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Wooten-Quijada said she is very familiar with the championship environment and believes it will be a good opportunity and experience for the players.
“It’s actually a really fun tournament,” she said. “They are a great doubles team…so I’m just excited to watch them compete.”
The women’s ITA All-American Championships will take place from Oct. 2-9 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Meeks will travel with Ludivine Burguiere and Ruth Copas, who are tabbed to compete in the Wildcat Invitational, a 3-day event that kicked off Friday in Arizona. Wong and Chung are likely to enjoy some time off as they are not scheduled to compete.
Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, tennis, and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
