Middle Tennessee women’s tennis (5-10, 1-2 CUSA) defeated New Mexico State University (4-8) 4-1 on Tuesday in the Adams Complex Center.
“We were just trying to be very positive and very energetic,” Lena Peyer said. “The last matches we were not very energetic, and we lost a couple tough matches.”
With new doubles teams, senior Rutuja Chaphalkar and freshman Zora Koenig dominated NMSU’s Dora Kurdi and Whitney Moon, 6-0, on court three. Sophomore Sara Conde and senior Cara Szilasi clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Nadia Nemeth and Mariella Gelbke on court one.
On court two, Peyer and Zenn Lim went unfinished, extending the Blue Raiders’ lead 4-3.
“We changed up doubles a little bit,” head coach Tayo Bailey-Duvall said. “We were just trying to do what we could to get that double point, and today it showed it was important. The mindset was to go out here and find a way to win.”
Into singles play, freshman Sthefany Lima put MTSU back on the scoreboard, 2-0, with a 6-6, 6-2 win over Emma Petton on court three.
However, the Aggies started to wake up on court six, as Gelbke defeated Zenn Lim 6-2,6-2, giving New Mexico its first point of the match.
After dropping the first set 0-6, Koenig responded, taking the next sets 6-2, 6-3 to increase Middle Tennessee’s advantage 3-1.
Peyer stepped onto court one to clinch the match but fell short 3-6 to Moon. Peyer took control in the next two sets, 6-1, 6-1, to secure the victory for the Blue Raiders, 4-1.
Two matches went unfinished in the third set, as Conde trailed Anna Klimova 4-6, 6-4, 3-5 on court four, while junior Sadbaroy Kholdarova led Nemeth 6-4, 5-7, 3-2, on court five when play stopped.
“It feels good to get this win,” Bailey-Duvall said. “I’m just hoping that we learn from it. Confidence, playing consistently, being mentally tough throughout the whole match, not just part of it, so that even though it’s close, we can still get that win.”
The Blue Raiders will travel to Miami, Florida, to face Florida International University (3-6) on Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
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