GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The top-seeded Metropolitan State University of Denver women's tennis team is headed to the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament final after cruising to a 4-0 victory over No. 4 seed CSU-Pueblo at Colorado Mesa's Elliott Tennis Center on Friday.
"I thought we came out and competed at a really high level today," MSU Denver coach
Josh Graetz said. "It was important after doubles that we came out strong, which I thought we did a really good job of."
MSU Denver improves to 13-9 overall, while the ThunderWolves finish the year with a 1-21 record.
The Roadrunners are now one step closer to their third straight conference tournament title and await their opponent in the RMAC championship match. They will play the winner of No. 2 seed Dixie State and No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. MDT in Grand Junction.
Tabitha Porter and
Mackenzie Hotan put the Roadrunners ahead on the scorecard early in No. 2 doubles as they defeated the twosome of Sarah Megilligan and Emily Sporston, 6-2.
Olivia Kaiser and
Eliza McKean clinched the Roadrunners' doubles' point with a default win in the No. 3 position.
Though their No. 1 doubles match never finished,
Alex Pessoa and
Helena Steenberg had a 5-4 advantage over Nia Matthews and Kali Hamilton when MSU Denver clinched the doubles point.
In singles play, Kaiser and McKean later upped the Roadrunners' point tally in No. 4 singles and No. 5 singles, respectively.
Kaiser took on Megilligan and won the first set, 6-1, before shutting out her opponent in the second set, 6-0.
McKean also didn't have much trouble and defeated Katherine Ambrose, 6-1, 6-1.
Ainsley Winterrowd won by default in No. 6 singles.
Porter (6-1, 3-1) in No. 1 singles, Pessoa (6-3, 5-3) in No. 2 singles and Steenberg (6-4, 3-1) in No. 3 singles all had leads over their competitors when MSU Denver clinched the match victory. All three of those matches went unfinished.
While the Roadrunners won in dominant fashion, Graetz still sees room for improvement in his team's play.
"We still have some things to patch up before tomorrow, but I know the girls are ready to rise to the occasion," Graetz said.
