Women's Tennis | 3/18/2024 11:00:00 AM

(St. George, Utah – March 18, 2024) - The Trailblazers head to UNLV on Wednesday for a matinee against UNLV in a match that was postponed from March 2.

Who | Utah Tech (5-7, 0-0 WAC) at UNLV (7-5, 1-1 MW)
When | Wednesday, March 20 / 12 p.m.
Where | Fertitta Tennis Complex – Las Vegas, Nev.
Social Media | Live Stats | Instagram + Twitter (X)

A GLANCE AT THE UNLV REBELS
UNLV has posted a 7-5 overall record and are coming off a 4-1 win at Air Force on Sunday after opening Mountain West action two days prior in a loss at New Mexico.

The Rebels have also wins over Weber State, Pacific, Youngstown State, New Mexico State, UTSA and UMKC and have fallen to No. 51 Colorado, No. 49 Maryland, Rice and Northern Arizona.

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.

Senior Salsa Aher is 9-2 at number two singles and junior Cindy Hu is 8-3 at number three singles. On the doubles side, Hu and Coco Zhao leads the way at number two doubles with a 10-4 mark.

Head coach Kevin Cory is in his 25th season at UNLV and has led the Rebels to 395 wins, seven Mountain West championships and has been named the MW Coach of the Year three times.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers earned their fifth win of the season in their last contest on March 9 with a 7-0 sweep over Colorado Mesa.

Utah Tech got the action started sweeping all three positions at doubles to take a quick 1-0 lead. The Blazers continued their strong play at singles getting started with a 6-4, 6-2 win at number one singles by Adithi Venkatakrishnan.

The next five Blazers followed suit picking up wins from Ana Gutierrez Sampere, Mariana Zurita, Rachel Mellor, Ya-Chi Hsu & Raquel Roshak to complete the sweep of the Mavericks.

TRAILBLAZERS WIN FOUR IN ARIZONA
The Blazers went a perfect 4-0 on their trip to Arizona on Feb. 17-19 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.

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

SINGLES & DOUBLES WIN LEADERS
On the singles side, senior Rachel Mellor is 6-5 overall, including a 4-0 mark at number three.

Fellow senior Ya-Chi Hsu is 5-6 overall in singles with a 4-5 record at number four singles.

Flipping over to doubles, Mellor and Mariana Zurita are 5-7 as a pairing overall with a 4-7 mark at number one doubles.

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 103 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 open WAC action on Friday hosting No. 60 Grand Canyon (12-2) and Stephen F. Austin (8-4) on Sunday.