If you want it, you have to step up and take it.
This weekend, San Diego State’s women’s tennis team took some bigsteps toward their goal of winning the Mountain West Conference byemerging victorious from their first two matches at the openingtournament in Las Vegas.
On Friday, No. 39 SDSU (9-6, 2-0) bested Utah 7-0. The Aztecscompletely dominated the struggling Utes on every court, not losing asingle set all match. Junior Katja Karrento won the deciding match atthe No. 3 singles position before the rest of the team closed outtheir wins.
“We really stepped up and played well,” SDSU head coach PeterMattera said. “We played extremely well in doubles and did a good jobof finishing out strong starts in singles play. This is how we wantto be playing as conference action begins.”
The next opponent would not be such a pushover. No. 31 BYU — lastyear’s conference champion never fails to field a strong team; but inthis match, the Aztecs were just plain better.
“They were sensational,” SDSU assistant coach Larry Willens said.”BYU is always tough, but the girls concentrated and played the waythat they needed to play. It was really impressive tennis.”
The Aztecs began the match by winning the doubles point thatincluded a big win at the No. 1 position. Karrento and sophomoreKatalina Romero played on court one for only the second time thisseason but managed to knock off the No. 32 ranked tandem of BrookBeverley and Dominique Reynolds.
Singles play was also all SDSU, after they won four out of the sixmatches. Junior Sylvia Tornier won her team-best tenth singlesvictory after Rebecca Pike retired at 2-0 in the first set. Tornierwas named the MWC Player of the Week last week for her wins overNotre Dame and Kansas State.
The Aztecs also got singles wins from junior Lindsey Hedberg,Karrento and senior Julie Chidley. For the team members who were herelast season, it was sweet revenge to knock off the Cougars, whotopped SDSU in the final match of the MWC Championships.
The win was the fourth in a row for SDSU. It also extended anotherstreak for the Aztecs who have now won eight consecutive MWCregular-season matches dating back to last season.
SDSU will now face the one team that should challenge it for theconference title this Thursday at 2 p.m. when they take on No. 17UNLV (12-2, 2-0). The Rebels also won both of its matches thisweekend, including a close 4-3 victory over BYU.
“We are really looking forward to it,” Romero said. “It is animportant match for us because they hold a higher ranking than us andthey are in our conference.”
The Aztecs will then host two more conference foes this weekendwhen they battle Wyoming Friday at 2 p.m. and Colorado State Saturdayat 10 a.m.
