Women's Tennis | 2/28/2024 11:00:00 AM

(St. George, Utah – Feb. 28, 2024) - The Trailblazer tennis team is back in action this weekend for a pair of matches in Las Vegas taking on Northern Arizona and No. 69 UNLV at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Who | Utah Tech (4-5, 0-0 WAC) vs. Northern Arizona (1-4, 0-0 Big Sky)
When | Friday, March 1 / 11 a.m.
Where | Fertitta Tennis Complex – Las Vegas, Nev.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

Who | Utah Tech (4-5, 0-0 WAC) at No. 69 UNLV (6-2, 0-0 MW)
When | Saturay, March 2 / 10:30 a.m.
Where | Fertitta Tennis Complex – Las Vegas, Nev.
Social Media | Live Stats | Instagram + Twitter (X)

A GLANCE AT THE NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS
Northern Arizona is off to a 1-4 start to the season with a 6-1 win at home over UTEP to start the season while taking losses to Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado and Colorado State.

NAU will also take on Rice and UNLV while in Las Vegas this weekend.

The Lumberjacks are coming off a 13-7 overall record in 2023 while posting a perfect 8-0 mark in the Big Sky advancing to the Big Sky Tournament final where they fell to Weber State, 4-2 in Phoenix.

NAU boasts three seniors, a junior, three sophomores and one freshman with sophomore Pat Niewiadomska leading the way with a 3-2 mark at number one singles and the doubles team of Ava Neyestani and Doalvee Tumthong leading the way with a 3-2 mark at number three doubles.

Head coach Ewa Bogusz is in her sixth season at NAU and has been named Big Sky Coach of the Year twice and led the Lumberjacks to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

A GLANCE AT THE UNLV REBELS
UNLV ranks No. 69 in the ITA Top 75 released on Tuesday with the Rebels off to a 6-2 start to the season.

The Rebels have wins over Weber State, Pacific, Youngstown State, New Mexico State, UTSA and UMKC while falling to No. 54 Colorado and No. 65 Maryland.

UNLV posted a 19-4 record in 2023 with an 8-2 mark in the Mountain West to finish second in the conference. The Rebels defeated Air Force in the MW Championship final to advance to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to USC, 4-1 in Malibu.

Salsa Aher and Cindy Hu are 6-1 at number two and three singles, respectively, while the duo of Hu and Coco Zhao are 6-1 at number two doubles.

Head coach Kevin Cory is in his 25th season at UNLV and has led the Rebels to 394 wins, seven Mountain West championships and has been named the MW Coach of the Year three times.

TRAILBLAZERS WIN FOUR IN ARIZONA
The Blazers went a perfect 4-0 on their trip to Arizona with a 6-1 win over Arizona Christian, a pair of 7-0 wins against Mesa Community College and a 5-0 win against Ottawa University.

Ana Gutierrez Sampere went 3-0 at number one singles before going unfinished against Ottawa. Rachel Mellor and Laura Coulome each went a perfect 4-0 at number three and five singles, respectively while all 12 double teams earned wins.

BLAZERS DROP PAIR OF MATCHES IN OGDEN
The Trailblazers dropped a pair of road contests on Feb. 9-10 falling 6-1 at Weber State and 7-0 against Idaho State.

Kylie Kezos earned her second singles point of the season against the Wildcats winning 6-0, 6-3 at number six singles.

Against the Bengals, Utah Tech earned a win at number three doubles with Ya-Chi Hsu and Adithi Venkatakrishnan coming out on top, 7-5, but the Trailblazers fell at number one and two doubles to narrowly miss winning the doubles point.

TRAILBLAZERS FALL TO UTAH STATE IN HOME OPENER
Utah Tech took on Utah State in its home opener on Jan. 27 falling to the Aggies, 5-2.

The Trailblazers picked up a win at number two doubles with Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Kylie Kezos rallying from down 0-3 to win 7-5.

Splitting the first four singles positions against USU, the Trailblazers earned a point at number two singles with Adithi Venkatakrishnan dominating her way to a strong 6-4, 7-5 win.

Senior Ya-Chi Hsu picked up a win at number four singles with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory, but the Aggies earned wins at the final two single positions to clinch the win.

2024 ROSTER
The 2023-24 roster consists of 11 student-athletes with four freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and three seniors.

The Trailblazers return six student-athletes from last year while welcoming four freshmen and one junior college transfer in Laura Coulome.

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

HEAD COACH ERIC PELTON
Eric Pelton is in his 18th season as the head coach of the Utah Tech women's tennis program in 2024.

Utah Tech has racked up 102 wins over his 18 seasons leading the Trailblazers and helped lead then-Dixie State to a career-high 13 wins in 2018-19 and added six more in the COVID-19 shortened season of 2019-20.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers are back at home next weekend hosting Idaho State (5-3) on March 8 and Colorado Mesa (7-5) on March 9.