EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's tennis team improved to 6-0 at home after defeating the University of New Mexico 4-3 on Sunday at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
"You know they competed hard," UTRGV head coach Sonia Hahn said. "It's that time of the season when you want to stay as healthy as you can. We had a tough spring break and bounced back and competed well as a team.."
 
UTRGV (7-8) got off to a quick start taking the doubles point. Sophomore Anastasia Belyaeva and freshman Lasya Patnaik got things started with a 6-2 win over Ruth Copas and Natasha Munday on court three. 
 
Juniors Marine Darzyan and Dominique Ibarra then clinched the point with a 6-3 win over Albie Huang and Danielle Quevedo on court one.
 
In singles, New Mexico (3-6) tied things right out of the gate with a win on court six and then took the lead with a win on court two. 
 
Ibarra answered with a straight set 6-2, 6-2 win over Diana Wong that tied the match at 2-2 and then it was senior Dominique Esparza defeating Copas 6-3, 6-3 on court one giving UTRGV the 3-2 lead.
 
New Mexico won on court four tying the match at 3-3 but it was Belyaeva coming through in the clutch. Belyaeva picked up the 6-3 win in the first set before closing out the match with a 6-3 win in the second. 
 
UTRGV will host the first Western Athletic Conference cluster of the season starting on March 23 when it plays against UMKC at 1 p.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
Singles (6,2,3,1,5,4)
1. Dominique Esparza (UTRGV) def. Ruth Copas (UNM) 6-3, 6-3
2. Bronte Murgett (UNM) def. Marine Darzyan (UTRGV) 6-4, 6-4
3. Dominique Ibarra (UTRGV) def. Diana Wong (UNM) 6-2, 6-2
4. Anastasia Belyaeva (UTRGV) def. Danielle Quevedo (UNM) 6-3, 6-3
5. Polly Chen (UNM) def. Doris Aleksovska (UTRGV) 6-4, 6-1
6. Albie Huang (UNM) def. Lasya Patnaik (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles (3,1)
1. Marine Darzyan/Dominique Ibarra (UTRGV) def. Albie Huang/Danielle Quevedo (UNM) 6-3
2. Dominique Esparza/ Doris Aleksovska (UTRGV) vs. Bronte Murgett/Diana Wong (UNM) 3-4 unfinished
3. Anastasia Belyaeva/Lasya Patnaik (UTRGV) def. Ruth Copas/Natasha Munday (UNM) 6-2

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