Aggie Women register sweep over Montana, Montana State
Playing at the Montana State University Invitational on its first road trip of the season, the Utah State women’s tennis team picked up back-to-back wins over Montana State University and the University of Montana.
With the wins, the Aggies have won three straight matches and are now 4-2 on the season.
Friday, the Aggies met Montana State and opened their trip with a 5-2 victory.
“I am proud of how hard we fought,” Head Coach Chris Wright said. “It was a total team effort and we played pretty well as a group.”
Utah State took the lead early by winning the
doubles point.
For the Aggies, Sarah Lowe and Caroline Pollock defeated Liz Lowrance and Colleen Cohee, 8-4, while Jocee Bergeson and Amy Thatcher were victorious over Stacy Voelker and Staci Rust, 8-4.
MSU picked up a 9-8 doubles victory with Susan Risteen and Rachel Drummond defeating Carolyn Larsen and
Haley Hawkins.
Wright said the Aggies have been working on doubles in practice and it helped them Aggies to earn the doubles point.
In singles play, the Aggies lost at the first two spots with Lowe losing 6-2, 6-4 to Neza Kurnik and Bergeson falling 6-0, 6-0, to Voelker.
Wright said Lowe was not at 100 percent after battling the flu, and Bergeson’s opponent played outstanding.
“I can’t criticize Jocee [Bergeson],” he said. “Sometimes you just run into someone who’s just hot.”
The Aggies were victorious through the remainder of singles to earn the match victory.
Playing in the No. 3 spot, Pollock defeated Lowrance 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, in what Wright said was the match of the day.
Wright said Pollock lost a close set to start and then later in the match fought off two match points to pull out the victory.
In the other matches, Richelle Ferguson beat Cohee, 6-2, 6-4, Larsen defeated Susan Risteen, 7-6, 6-2, and Hawkins got the victory over Rachel Drummond, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6.
Saturday the Aggies didn’t lose a single match, sweeping Montana 7-0. It was the second shutout of the season for Utah State. The first came in Logan against Portland State University on Jan. 19.
“The girls were very focused and went out and fought hard,” Wright said.
“It was fun to see everyone get a win. I am trying to get the girls to understand that winning can become a habit if they keep feeling this confident.”
In doubles, Lowe and Pollock defeated Sarah Blain and Annabelle Janairo, 8-4; Larsen and Hawkins won, 8-4, over Lindsey Torgerson and Michaele Zima, and Bergeson and Thatcher were victorious over Molly Sanders and Christine Dickson, 8-2.
“We’re finally starting to play good again in doubles,” assistant coach Jevin West said.
The Aggies were also dominant in singles play as Lowe beat Blain 6-4, 6-3; Bergeson defeated Sanders, 6-2, 6-4; and Pollock defeated Janairo, 6-0, 6-0.
“Pollock was executing her game plan perfectly,” West said.
In the remainder of the singles matches, Ferguson defeated Torgerson, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Larsen beat Zima, 6-0, 6-2; and Hawkins won 6-4, 6-4, over Dickson.
West said to win both matches on the road the way the Aggies did was great for their confidence.
“They’re playing better and better, and it’s fun to coach.” West said. “They’re excited for their next match; their confidence is so high.”
The Aggies start conference play when they face Cal Poly Feb. 23. Also in California, the Aggies will play Arizona State University Feb. 24.