Silver City, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University women's tennis team started the 2022 season playing an exhibition against DI University of Texas at El Paso. UTEP would take the exhibition 7-0.

"The score is deceiving because we played a high quality DI opponent in UTEP, but I am excited we saw a lot of growth in our players mentally and emotionally from the Fall semester," said Head Coach Alex Hunt. 

WNMU played some tough talent and performed well, despite the scores going to the Miners. In doubles, the Mustangs #1 doubles duo Julia Terrazas (Santa Cruz, Bolivia/Saint George HS) and Massiel Paredes (Lima, Peru/Pamer HS) battled but fell 6-2. Partners, Livia Leite (Cunha-SP, Brazil/Bernardino Querido,) and Kajsa Gedlitschka (Greensboro, NC/Grimsley HS) and Caini Wang (Taiwan/Taipei Municipal Nangang Vocational High School) and Nicold Gonzalez (Bogota, Colombia) were held scoreless their duals.

"Today's exhibition was the first ever collegiate team tennis match for several of our players and the fact that every single woman on our roster did well in implementing our mental and emotional strategies is a great sign for our future," said Hunt.

In singles, Gedlitschka showed lots of fight, before UTEP's Emily Dibattista would end up winning (6-2, 6-3). Leite and Gonzalez were both edged out (6-1, 6-1). Paredes and Wang showed immense effort before falling (6-0, 6-1). Andreea Arnautu (Laval, Quebec, Canada/College Laval) was playing in the #1 spot for the first time in her early career. Despite being held scoreless, Arautu showed grit all day long.

"We've worked hard on our mental and emotional focus to perform our best and maintain at a high level throughout the duration of an entire match," concluded Hunt! 

The next time women's tennis will be back on the court will be February 10-12th, against Arizona Christian, Colorado Mesa, and Ottawa (AZ), all in Arizona.

This game recap is presented by First American Bank. First American Bank is a proud supporter of WNMU Athletics!  

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 Western New Mexico University is a member of the NCAA Division II, and the Lone Star Conference (LSC). For additional information regarding Mustang Athletics, visit www.wnmumustangs.com; visit wnmu.edu for more information about Western New Mexico University. Follow the Mustangs on social media: @WNMUathletics (Twitter & Instagram).