SAN DIEGO/AZUSA, Calif. – The upcoming road trip to California will be a strong test for the Western New Mexico University tennis teams as they will face seven total ranked teams.
On the men's side, the Mustangs enter ranked No. 28 in the latest ITA national rankings. They will battle four ranked teams in No. 16 UC-San Diego, No. 27 Point Loma, No. 17 Azusa Pacific and No. 34 Holy Names.
WNMU is 2-3 on the season with wins over Mesa CC and Arizona Christian. Their three losses have all been to Division I teams (Grand Canyon, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona). So far Sophomore
Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) and freshman
Liam Fraboulet (Lycee Kerraoul, Paimpol, France) have two singles victories. In doubles, redshirt sophomore
Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes)/Fraboulet have a pair of wins at the top flight.
First up on Thursday at 10 a.m. will be the Tritons. They are 5-3 so far and 3-0 at home with wins against nationally-ranked Point Loma, Azusa Pacific and Holy Names. Alexandre Miaule leads the team in singles victories capturing five. Miaule, Horea Porutiu and Justin Zhang all have five doubles wins.
On Friday at 2 p.m. will be a matchup with the Sea Lions. Point Loma is 1-5 with their only win coming last time out against Holy Names. Jack Alston, CJ Erion and Andre Staab all have three singles victories. Staab and Daniel Milliken have collected three doubles wins.
On Saturday, the Mustangs will play a pair of matches first at 9 a.m. against No. 17 Azusa Pacific and then at 2 p.m. against Sonoma State. The Cougars are off to a strong 5-1 start with their only loss to UC San Diego by a point. Alan Leahy is undefeated in singles collecting a 6-0 mark. Pascal Engel and Jan Meyer lead the team in doubles victories with five. Later in the day the Mustangs will face Sonoma State. The Sea Wolves are 0-8 having come close against Hawaii-Hilo twice (6-3). Blaine Mengert leads the team with five singles victories, while Sullivan Roche has tallied four doubles victories.
WNMU closes the trip on Sunday at 9 a.m. against No. 34 Holy Names. The Hawks are 3-3 on the season with wins over Sonoma State, UC Santa Cruz and Biola. Matthew Halligan and Nikoa Solaja each have posted four singles victories. Hugo Colpart and Halligan each have four doubles wins.
On the women's side, the Lady Mustangs are 1-3 having posted a 9-0 win over Eastern Arizona last time out. They will face nationally-ranked No. 17 UC-San Diego, No 31 Point Loma and No. 13 Azusa Pacific.
Junior
Annely Heinze (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Techologico de Monterrey) is off to a strong start as she leads the team with three singles victories. Senior
Claudia Osuna (Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico/Tec Milenio ) has posted two so far. In doubles, Heinze also has three victories with redshirt sophomore
Tiffany Newell (Las Vegas, NV/Silverado ) and seniors
Diamond Morrill (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) and Osuna.
They open the week on Thursday against the No. 17 Tritons at 2 p.m. who come in with a 4-4 record. UC San Diego has wins over nationally-ranked Point Loma and came close against Azusa Pacific falling by a point. Britta Mosser and Alexandra Wall led in singles victories with five apiece. Ashley Chao and Shannon Theisen have six doubles victories apiece.
On Friday the Lady Mustangs will go against No. 31 Point Loma at 11 a.m. The Sea Lions are 2-2 with wins over San Diego Christian and Cal State LA. Nicole Camaratta and Regina von Koch have three singles wins. Camaratta, von Koch, Hilary Ramage, Michelle Torres and Jen Weissmann lead in doubles victories all with two.
Saturday WNMU will go against No. 13 Azusa Pacific at 9 a.m. The Cougars are 5-1 with wins over nationally-ranked UC San Diego and Point Loma. Azusa Pacific is paced by Jackie Resler and Lisa Schneider with each collecting five victories. In doubles Kara Hinton, Valeriia Kashina and Lilit Vardanyan have four victories.
To close the week on Sunday WNMU will go against Holy Names at 9 a.m. The Hawks are 5-3 with their last three wins coming by 9-0 scores against UC Santa Cruz, Mills and Biola. Mariel Bautista holds a 6-1 mark in singles, while she has teamed with Taylor Barajas to post seven doubles wins.
The matches against Azusa Pacific will have live stats. All match times are Pacific Standard Time.
