COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver tennis team wrapped up the second day of its first competition of the 2018-19 season, the Air Force Invitational, on Saturday. The MSU Denver women continued their strong start from Friday's action, while the men's team also had a solid second day of play against the same two teams.

The women's team was dominant on Saturday. Sophomore Alex Pessoa (/) defeated Nia Matthews of CSU-Pueblo (6-0, 7-5) and dispatched Maria Aveiga of Seward County Community College (6-4, 6-1). Freshman Helena Steenberg (Skodsborg, Denmark/Naerum Gymnasium, Naerum, Denmark) displayed no nerves in her rise to the collegiate ranks, defeating CSU-Pueblo's Sarah Megilligan (6-4, 6-2) and SCC's Alisa Handrugan (6-4, 6-1). Junior Mackenzie Hotan (Beaverton, OR/Southridge H.S.) was just as dominant as the former two, recording victories against CSU-Pueblo's Rael Cordova (6-1, 6-0) and SCC's Eva Liu (6-3, 6-3).

"The women continue to get better and are really understanding what it takes to win matches," said new head coach Josh Graetz (Albury, Australia/The Scots School).

Junior star Tabitha Porter (Auckland, New Zealand/Northcote College) dropped two close, hard-fought matches to Air Force's Meredith Jones (2-6, 2-5) and SCC's Patricia Panta (7-5, 6-7, 2-10). Fellow junior Ainsley Winterrowd (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) dropped a contest to Air Force's Alex Kuo (3-6, 1-6), but beat SCC's Christiana Smyrloglou (6-1, 6-4).

Meanwhile, the men's team struggled against Seward County but found its groove against Colorado College. Junior Alejandro Martinez-Morilla (Madrid, Spain/I.E. Valdecas) defeated CC's Noah Forman (6-4, 6-3), while senior Keenan Kaltenbacher (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) completed an impressive comeback against Sam Hum (4-6, 6-2, 10-5). In the lone doubles match of the day for MSU Denver, Kaltenbacher and Martinez-Morilla grabbed a close win against a CSU-Pueblo duo (7-6 (4)).

"I was really impressed with our guys," Graetz said. "There was good fight from everyone and we were able to get some solid wins. They will only get better from here."

The Roadrunners will be back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. MT for the final day of the Air Force Invitational. Follow @MSUDenverTennis and @MSUDenverSports on Twitter for additional coverage of MSU Denver Tennis and MSU Denver Athletics.