(St. George - Feb 19, 2026) – The Trailblazer women's tennis team returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas, Nevada in a neutral site match against Colorado. The match will get underway at 2 p.m. PST / 3 p.m. MST.
Who | Utah Tech (3-6, 0-0 WAC) vs. Colorado (5-2, 0-0 Big 12)
When | Saturday, Feb. 21 - 3 p.m. (MT)
Where | Fertitta Tennis Complex - Las Vegas, Nevada
Social Media | Instagram + X (Twitter)
A GLANCE AT COLORADO
The Colorado Buffaloes will enter the weekend with a 5-2 overall record on the season, riding a two match win streak, with victories over St. Thomas (MN) and Minnesota last Sunday in Minneapolis. The Buffaloes will face Utah Tech in their third match of the weekend in Las Vegas, with a match on Friday versus UNLV, and Saturday morning against Gonzaga before facing the Trailblazers. Colorado is led by head coach Anthony Pham, who is in his 5th season at the helm.
LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers dropped a rare two day match at home to the Idaho State Bengals, 5-2 on Sunday, Feb. 15. The match was split over the weekend, doubles play on Saturday and singles play on Sunday, due to impending weather in the St. George area. The Bengals took the doubles point on Saturday and clinched the match on Sunday by winning the first four singles matches.
Maya Inouye and
Cameron Hendrix were able to secure the final two matches in the tiebreaker set and gain a little momentum that Utah Tech will look to carry over into this match.
MEET THE TRAILBLAZERS
Utah Tech returns seven letter winners from last year's squad, including sophomore
Maya Inouye, a 2024-25 Second Team All-WAC selection. She led the Trailblazers with 10 singles wins, logging a 10-6 record during the dual season and setting the UT Division I-era record for single-season wins. Inouye is the Trailblazers' first-ever All-WAC singles honoree and the first Trailblazer to reach 10 wins since Yolena Carlon went 10-7 in 2018.
The Trailblazers' two newcomers are freshmen
Cameron Hendrix and
Ilse Fernanda Elechiguerra Ortega. Seeing action in two tournaments last fall, Hendrix won the Bengal draw with doubles partner senior
Nicole Kells at the Idaho State Invitational, and went 2-1 in singles play at the UNLV Watanabe Classic. Out of La Ceiba, Mexico, Elechiguerra Ortega joined the team in time for this spring semester.
Head coach
Eric Pelton is in his 20th season at the helm of Utah Tech women's tennis. He has totaled 111 wins at UT and winning seasons in 2014 (12-9), 2017 (9-8), 2019 (13-4) and 2020 (6-3). Pelton has mentored 10 all-conference selections, including Inouye.
2025 IN REVIEW
UT posted its best Division I-era record in 2025, going 7-13 with wins over Colorado Mesa, the College of Idaho, Mesa CC, Montana, UT Dallas and Weber State. Five of those victories were 7-0 sweeps. Utah Tech's season ended in the first round of the WAC Tennis Championships with a 4-0 loss to UT Arlington.
BIG SKY ON THE HORIZON
Utah Tech is in its last year of competition as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Trailblazers will join the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026. UT will keep the conference at nine women's tennis programs, joining Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Portland State and Weber State. Sacramento State departs for the Big West after this season.
UP NEXT
Utah Tech will head to Grand Junction, Colorado for a two match roadstand, Feb. 27-28 against Colorado Mesa University and Colorado College.
