Reno, Nev. The Nevada women’s tennis team closed out the regular season with its fifth straight victory, a 5-2 win over Middle Tennessee State at the Wilbur D. May Tennis Complex on Sunday.
The Wolf Pack, ranked No. 62 in the country, improved to 13-8 in dual play and closed out the regular season with seven wins in its final eight matches.
Nevada seniors Fiorella Velez and Bach-Lan Pham were playing their final home matches and went out in style as the team got the overall victory and each won her match in straight sets.
“I am so proud of those two and everything they accomplished at Nevada,” coach Sylvain Malroux said. “I was happy that we were able to win today and both of them got crucial victories in the match for us.”
The Wolf Pack lost the doubles point in a bit of a surprise as Caroline Bailly and Maria Mizyuk, the 48th-ranked team in the country, lost their first dual match of the season. They were knocked off by Hala Sufi and Claudia Szabo, 8-5. MTSU also got a win at the No. 2 spot to get the doubles point. Velez teamed with Alice Hall to win at the No.3 spot for Nevada.
But Nevada came back strong in singles play, winning five of the six matches. After Maria Mizyuk (No. 2) and Ly-Huong Dinh (No. 3) won their matches to put Nevada up 2-1, Velez (No. 5) and Pham (No. 6) clinched the victory with straight-set wins.
Hall also got a win at the No. 4 spot as MTSU’s Szabo retired in the second set. The Pack’s lone singles loss was at the No. 1 spot where Bailly fell to the nationally-ranked Sufi in a thrilling three-set match.
Nevada will now gear up for the Western Athletic Conference Championships, which will be April 26-29 in Boise, Idaho.
RESULTS
No. 62 Nevada 5, Middle Tennessee State 2
At Wilbur D. May Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Hala Sufi/Claudia Szabo def. Caroline Bailly/Maria Mizyuk (NEV), 8-5.
2. Ann-Kristin Siljestrom/Stephanie Parkison def. Ly-Huong Dinh/Bach-Lan Pham (NEV), 8-6.
3. Fiorella Velez/Alice Hall (NEV) def. Pooja Kommireddi/Marlena Chemin, 8-4.
Singles
1. Sufi def. Bailly, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
2. Mizyuk def. Siljestrom, 6-1, 6-1.
3. Dinh def. Chemin, 6-2, 6-2.
4. Hall def. Szabo 2-6, 5-4 (retired).
5. Velez def. Kommireddi, 7-5, 6-3.
6. Pham def. Parkison, 6-3, 6-3.
