Box Score (St. George - Feb. 20, 2025) - Utah Tech women's tennis fell to New Mexico State 4-0 in UT's home opener on Thursday afternoon at Trailblazer Tennis Courts. The Trailblazers put up a tough fight against a top Conference USA squad.

"It was exciting to be at home finally," head coach Eric Pelton said. "It was a good day. It was a good first home match and we're excited to be back at it in two weeks."

Doubles play was tightly contested, but ultimately the Trailblazers fell short in the first and second matches before the third match, featuring sophomore Ana Gutierrez Sampere and junior Nicole Kells, was left unfinished 5-3. 

"We had a lot of opportunities in the doubles, unfortunately, the score didn't really show it," Pelton said. "The one doubles who didn't even finish, almost every game they played was deuce, and so it was the difference of a couple of points and the same with the other ones."

Pelton liked the fight his Trailblazers showed in singles play, but emphasized consistency with his players after the match.

"They were really fighting. They started coming back," Pelton said about his squad. "We kind of played in waves today. They were playing really well, winning a lot of games and points and then they would also kind of let up and it would dip and so we just talked about if we can find how to keep that level up, it definitely will make a big difference."

After dropping the first set 6-2 at number one singles, sophomore Mariana Zurita was leading in the second set 5-3 before the match was left unfinished. 

"Mariana was coming back at first single," Pelton said. "She was pretty close to winning that second set, but unfortunately, didn't get to finish."

Freshman Nutsa Tsintsadze faced an Aggie with a strong serve at the number three singles spot, giving NMSU sophomore Whitney Moon a battle in the first set before their match was left unfinished 5-6, 2-5.

"Nutsa played a lot of good points," Pelton said. "She had some opportunities, was up 4-3 in the first set, but wasn't able to close it out and was kind of coming back in the second set."

Junior Raquel Roshak's contest at the number six singles spot was also left unfished when Roshak was closing the gap in the second set.

"She was playing really well," Pelton said about Roshak. "She was coming back in that second set, was up and was looking to potentially take that second set."

Utah Tech will next host Colorado Mesa at Trailblazer Tennis Courts on March 7 at 11 a.m.

Results
New Mexico State 4, Utah Tech 0
Feb. 20, 2025, at Trailblazer Tennis Courts (St. George, Utah)

 Doubles Competition
1. Anna Pinaieva/Nadia Nemeth (NMSU) def. Mariana Zurita/Maya Inouye (UT) 6-1
2. Montana Parkinson-Lubold/Lisa Zhu (NMSU) def. Laura Coulome/Nutsa Tsintsadze (UT) 6-3
3. Ana Gutierrez Sampere/Nicole Kells (UT) vs. Dora Kurdi/Whitney Moon (NMSU) 3-5, unfinished

Singles Competition
1. Mariana Zurita (UT) vs. Anna Pinaieva (NMSU) 2-6, 5-3, unfinished
2. Lisa Zhu (NMSU) def. Ana Gutierrez Sampere (UT) 6-2, 6-2
3. Nutsa Tsintsadze (UT) vs. Whitney Moon (NMSU) 5-6, 2-5, unfinished
4. Dora Kurdi (NMSU) def. Maya Inouye (UT) 6-1, 6-4
5. Nadia Nemeth (NMSU) def. Laura Coulome (UT) 6-3, 6-2
6. Raquel Roshak (UT) vs. Montana Parkinson-Lubold (NMSU) 1-6, 4-5 unfinished

Match Notes:
Utah Tech (0-8, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State (8-4, 0-0 CUSA)