Bobcats Drop Two in New Mexico

Friday, February 10

Albuquerque, NM

1 p.m.

Montana State University

New Mexico

Felicia Jayasaputra battles at New Mexico.

Photo by: courtesy UNM Sports Information

2/11/2023 5:05:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Battling through injuries, the Montana State women’s tennis team dropped a pair of matches in New Mexico over the weekend.

By: Tom Schulz

Battling through injuries, the Montana State women's tennis team dropped a pair of matches in New Mexico over the weekend. New Mexico State handed MSU a 6-1 setback on Saturday afternoon. The University of New Mexico captured a 4-0 decision over the Bobcats on Friday.

Against the Aggies, the two teams split Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, but MSU had to withdraw at No. 3 giving NMSU the opening point. Montana State's No. 2 tandem of JJ Chen and Felicia Jayasaputra posted a 6-4 win over Miranda Bishard and Bella Nguyen.

New Mexico State opened singles action winning at No. 6 as the Bobcats withdrew. The Aggies clinched the victory with wins at Nos. 2 and 5 singles. Jayasaputra completed a strong weekend for the Bobcats winning at No. 3 singles for MSU's lone point. The junior from Jakarta, Indonesia, notched a 7-6(2), 7-5 victory over Natsuki Mishimura.

"I was so proud of how we came out today," said MSU head coach Suzie Woodburn. "We played much more free and relaxed on the bigger moments. We have things to work on for our conference season, but we continue to get one day better every match we play."

At UNM, the Lobos opened with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles and took a 3-0 advantage as the Bobcats withdrew at Nos. 5 and 6 singles. New Mexico won at No. 3 to close out the match.

"It was a tough match at New Mexico, but we did the best we could with four athletes competing," Woodburn said. "Our goal was to stay out there as long as possible. We need to work on playing more fearless in the big moments, especially the deuce points."

NM State - 6, Montana State - 1

DOUBLES
No. 1 - Pinaieva/Zhu (NMS) def. Garcia-Reboredo/Van Baelen, 6-2
No. 2 - Jayasaputra/Chen (MSU) def. Bishard/Nguyen, 6-4
No. 3 - Kurdi/Nishimura (wd)

SINGLES
No. 1 - Anna Pinaieva (NMS) def. Marta Garcia-Reboredo, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
No. 2 - Lisa Zhu (NMS) def. Mirte Van Baelen, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 - Felicia Jayasaputra (MSU) def. Natsuki Nishimura, 7-6 (2), 7-5
No. 4 - Miranda Bishard (NMS) def. JJ Chen, 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 - Bella Nguyen (NMS) def. Abby Riitters, 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 - Dora Kurdi (NMS) def. MSU (wd)

New Mexico 4, Montana State 0

DOUBLES:
No. 1 – Jhang/Hoppe (UNM) def. Garcia-Reboredo/Van Baelen, 6-4
No. 2 – Sodre/Vandeputte (UNM) def. Chen/Jayasaputra, 6-3
No. 3 – Taborga/Toriumi (UNM) def. MSU (wd)

SINGLES
No. 1 – Sarah O'Connor v. Marta Garcia-Reboredo, unfinished
No. 2 – Katherine Jhang vs. Mirte Van Baelen, unfinished
No. 3 – Maud Vandeputte (UNM) def. Felicia Jayasaputra, 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 – Maria Sodre v. JJ Chen, unfinished
No. 5 – Sofia Taborga (UNM) def. MSU (wd)
No. 6 – Satoho Toriumi (UNM) def. MSU (wd)