Women's Tennis | 3/6/2024 11:00:00 AM

(St. George, Utah – March 6, 2024) - The Trailblazers return home this weekend to host a pair of matches welcoming Idaho State and Colorado Mesa at the Trailblazer Tennis Courts.

Who | Utah Tech (4-6, 0-0 WAC) vs. Idaho State (5-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
When | Friday, March 8 / 12 p.m.
Where | Trailblazer Tennis Courts – St. George, Utah
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

Who | Utah Tech (4-6, 0-0 WAC) vs. Colorado Mesa (7-7, 0-0 PacWest)
When | Saturay, March 9 / 10 a.m.
Where | Trailblazer Tennis Courts – St. George, Utah
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

A GLANCE AT THE IDAHO STATE BENGALS
Idaho State is 5-3 on the season with wins over Utah State, Colorado Mesa, The College of Idaho, Utah Tech and Portland State.

With the two squaring off in Ogden on Feb. 10, the Trailblazers fell 7-0 to ISU with Ya-Chi Hsu and Adithi Venkatakrishnan winning 7-5 at number three doubles.

Coming off a 10-9 season in 2023, the Bengals went 5-3 in Big Sky action and advanced to the Big Sky Tournament falling to Sacramento State, 4-0.

Senior Lola O'Lideadha is 7-1 on the season at No. 2-4 singles with her lone loss coming to Emma Kamper of Utah.

Head coach Gretchen Maloney is in her ninth season at Idaho State.

A GLANCE AT THE COLORADO MESA MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa has posted a 7-7 record so far in 2024 with a 5-6 mark this spring after going 2-1 in the fall.

The Mavericks, who compete in the Pacific West Conference in Division II, are 2-4 on the road this season and have victories over Fort Hays State, CSU Pueblo, College of Idaho, William Jewell, Western New Mexico, Arizona Christian and Ottawa University (Ariz.).

Colorado Mesa went 13-13 in 2022-23 falling to MSU Denver and Fresno Pacific in the PacWest Tournament. The Blazers and Mavericks last met in 2022 with Colorado Mesa winning a pair of 4-3 matches in St. George.

The Mavericks are led by freshman Devyn Rodriguez who has a 13-7 overall mark with a 9-4 mark in duals, including a 7-3 record at number three singles.

Head coach Dan MacDonald is in his 19th season and has been named the RMAC Coach of the Year on 12 occasions (seven women, five men) and has advanced to six NCAA Tournaments on the women side.

BLAZERS FALL IN STRAIGHT SETS vs. NAU
In their last outing on Friday in a neutral site contest against Northern Arizona in Las Vegas, Utah Tech fell 7-0 with Ana Gutierrez Sampere competing tough at number one singles winning set two, 6-3 before losing the deciding third set, 10-6 to Pat Niewiadomska.

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.

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.

NEW DATE vs. UNLV
Due to high winds in the Las Vegas area on Saturday, the Trailblazers match up against UNLV was postponed and will now be played on March 20 at 11 a.m. at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

SINGLES/DOUBLES LEADERS
The Trailblazers have three singles players, Rachel Mellor, Ya-Chi Hsu and Laura Coulome, with a team-leading four wins apiece.

On the doubles side, Hsu & Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Mellor & Mariana Zurita also have four victories apiece.

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
Off next weekend, the Trailblazers head to UNLV on March 20 before WAC play gets underway at home against Grand Canyon on March 22.