Women’s tennis four-match win streak snapped in 4-2 loss to Air Force
Utah State Women’s Tennis watched its four-match winning streak come to an end on Sunday, April 13, at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club, falling to Air Force, 4-2.
Friends and family filled the bleachers, with children cheering on siblings and teammates from the sidelines as the Aggies battled through a difficult afternoon against one of the Mountain West Conference’s top teams.
Early on, the Falcons grabbed the doubles point, winning at the top two positions. Magdalena Nunez Pureco and Sabina Pintea fell 6-2 at the first position, while the pairing of Terezia Mlkva and Kylee Sperry dropped their match 6-3 at the second spot. Maria Paula Ramos Garcia and Chahd Tourkhani were locked in a 5-5 battle at the third position when the point was clinched.
“I think we didn’t show up for doubles, but I think the reset for singles was pretty quick. We didn’t dwell on it for that long,” said head coach Veronika Golanova.
Air Force kept the momentum going into the opening of singles, with Ariana Van Houweling defeating Pintea 6-1, 6-3 at the second position to push the Falcons ahead 2-0.
The Aggies responded when Tourkhani got USU on the board with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Sofia Mavor at the fourth position. The match then moved indoors due to the weather, and Pureco evened things at 2-2 with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Nadia Kojonroj at the fifth spot.
“Chahd and Lena, they did an amazing job pulling through for us,” Golanova said. “Even the matches that we kind of lost on with Therese and Maria were really tough, competitive matches. We didn’t get blown off the court or anything.”
Pureco, known as “Lena” by the team, echoed a similar sentiment of a tough game.
“We had a super close match against Air Force, everyone played and fought hard,” Pureco wrote in an email to The Utah Statesman. “We have demonstrated that we are a team of fighters, that we want to win more, always having fun in the process.”
Air Force ultimately pulled away with the win, with the final two decisive points. Abby Corina took the top singles position over Mlkva 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in three sets after Mlkva had battled back to take the second set, and Yule Kang was edged Ramos Garcia at the third position in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2), to seal the 4-2 win for the Falcons. Sperry’s match at the sixth position was left unfinished at 4-6, 1-4.
Despite the loss, Golanova said there were positives to take from the afternoon. Utah State has now won four of its last five matches entering the Mountain West tournament, and the coach said the team’s ability to compete point for point with a top-four conference opponent was encouraging.
“There is a lot of positive. Tennis-wise, we can compete with anybody,” Golanova said. “It’s just, honestly, just have to get tougher mentally.”
Golanova said the doubles point will be a priority heading into the postseason, noting mental adjustments would be key if the Aggies are to make a deep tournament run.
“If we get into that, there’s going to be a lot of emphasis on doubles for us and just making the right choices and doing the right things,” Golanova said. “We’re right there. I’m not too worried about it. We just have to do some emotional adjustments.”
Pureco, who will be honored at Senior Day on Friday, April 17, before the match against Boise State, said the occasion carries personal weight.
“Senior Day means the end of an amazing chapter in my tennis career and my life that I will always carry with me,” she wrote. “I want to give everything on court for my team, that I love so much, and keep making history.”