(St. George, Utah – Jan. 17, 2024) - The Utah Tech women's tennis team opens the 2024 season this weekend traveling to Utah for a pair of matches taking on the Utes on Friday and Montana State on Saturday.

Who | Utah Tech (0-0, 0-0 WAC) at Utah (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) / vs. Montana State (2-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
When | Friday, Jan. 19 / 4 p.m. / Saturday, Jan. 20 / 9 a.m.
Where | George S. Eccles Tennis Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
Broadcast | Pac-12 Network + / StatBroadcast
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

A GLANCE AT UTAH
The Utes open the season this weekend against the Trailblazers, Bobcats and Idaho State while coming off a 13-11 overall record in 2023 and a 4-6 mark in the Pac-12. 

Utah went 8-1 at home last season with its lone setback coming against Stanford. The Utes, who topped the Trailblazers, 5-0, in St. George last season, are led by fifth-year head coach Ric Mortera.

The Utes bring back three returners, including 2023 ITA Mountain Region Freshman of the Year in Marcela Lopez, while adding six newcomers. In addition to three freshmen, Utah added a trio of Division I transfers in Yuhan Liu (Arkansas), Kat Lyman (Xavier) and Ana Luiza Cruz (South Carolina).

A GLANCE AT MONTANA STATE
The Bobcats opened the 2024 season at home last weekend with a pair of wins over North Dakota (4-3) and Seattle (5-2).

Montana State is coming off a 5-13 campaign in 2023 with a 2-6 record in the Big Sky. This will be Utah Tech's first meeting against the Bobcats who are led by second-year head coach Suzie Woodburn.

The Bobcats return five student-athletes from last season and add five newcomers with four freshmen and transfer Mia Ljubas, a junior from Oregon.

LOOK BACK AT THE FALL SCHEDULE

• UNLV WATANABE CLASSIC: Utah Tech earned three wins in the tournament with a seventh place match of the Flight 1 Doubles pairing, Mariana Berdecio and Annemiek Sterk, earned a 7-5 win over Dolavee Tumthong/Ava Neyestani of Northern Arizona.
• ITA MOUNTAIN REGIONALS: The Trailblazers earned a pair of wins in singles (Adithi Venkatakrishnan & Kylie Kezos) and one in doubles (Kylie Kezos & Ana Guiterrez Sampre) at the ITA Mountain Regionals hosted by Utah in Salt Lake City on Oct. 18-21.
• IDAHO STATE FALL INVITATIONAL: In the Orange Singles Draw, sophomore Adithi Venkatakrishnan and freshman Mariana Zurita both picked up victories in that bracket. In the Doubles "A" Draw, the duo of senior Ya-Chi Hsu and Venkatakrishnan bounced back from a first round loss to advance to the Consolation final, while the tandem of Rachel Mellor and Mariana Zurita won their first match, but the duo was eliminated in the Championship Bracket semifinals. In the Doubles "B" Draw, the freshman team of Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Olivia Bustos bounced back from a first round loss with two victories to win the Consolation Bracket title.

2023-24 ROSTER: The 2023-24 roster consists of 11 student-athletes with four freshman, three sophomores, one junior and three seniors.

Seven Trailblazers are from outside of the United States while four Blazers hail from the States. 

2023 IN REVIEW: Utah Tech went 2-19 in dual action in the spring season with a pair of 7-0 wins over Eastern Arizona. The Trailblazers went 0-9 in WAC action and took Seattle to seven points at home on March 26 falling to the Redhawks, 4-3.

UP NEXT: The Trailblazers return home to host Utah State for their home opener on Jan. 27 at noon.