Women’s Tennis Rallies Past New Mexico, 4-3

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force women's tennis (11-5, 3-3 MW) defeated New Mexico (7-7, 2-4 MW) 4-3 Friday afternoon at the USAFA indoor tennis courts. The win lifted the Falcons to 4-2 at home, including two in a row in conference home matches.

The Falcons rallied back from a 2-0 deficit by taking four of the last five singles matches, capped by the clinching win at No. 5 singles by Mebeli Becerra.

Air Force lost the doubles point after setbacks at No. 1 and 3 doubles. Meredith Jones and Ksenia Vasilyev fell at No. 1 to Natasha Munday and Hsuan Huang. Sydney Fitch and Shailla Alda fell at No. 3 to Albie Huang and Satoho Toriumi 6-3.

New Mexico went up 2-0 after Shailla Alda fell at No. 4 to Myu Kageyama 6-3, 6-0.

The Falcons then responded with three straight wins to take a 3-2 lead. Sydney Fitch got Air Force on the board with a win at No. 2 over Natasha Munday 6-3, 6-3. Alex Kuo then won at No. 3 over Hsuan Huang 6-3, 6-3 to tie it up at 2-2. Hailey Stelse then won at No. 6 over Sara Kuuttila-Webbert 6-0, 6-0 to give Air Force a 3-2 lead.

The Lobos tied it up at 3-3 when Meredith Jones fell at No. 1 in three sets to Polly Chen 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Air Force pulled out the win as Becerra won at No. 5 over Albie Huang 6-2, 6-4. Becerra won the clinching point in a lengthy rally where she out-lasted Huang.

Head coach Kim Gidley on the win:
"Today's match is the reason we call conference play Air Power April! What an incredible team effort by every single member. After losing the doubles point, the team came out on fire. Although MJ lost at No. 1 singles – her strong energy help spread across the courts. The timing of our players winning sets and matches was huge. With Sydney Fitch winning at straight sets at no. 2, this helped Alex Kuo split sets. Coach Veeder did a tremendous job in helping Alex stay the course in her match. With No. 5 and No. 6 going on later – Hailey Stelse goes out and wins 6-0, 6-0 to keep the team right in the match. In the end, it was the grind by Mebeli Becerra at No. 5 to clinch the match for the team. I am so excited that Mebeli got to be in this situation again. This is the second conference match she has gotten to clinch for the team. She really earned it today and left everything out there."

Air Force returns to action Sunday, April 18, in its home-finale, hosting San Jose State.

New Mexico vs. Air Force
Doubles
Natasha Munday/Hsuan Huang (NM) def. Meredith Jones/Ksenia Vasilyev (AF) 6-4
Alex Kuo/Isabella Flodin (AF) vs. Yue Lin Chen/Myu Kageyama (NM) 4-5, unfinished
Hsiang-Wen Huang/Satoho Toriumi (NM) def. Sydney Fitch/Shailla Alda (AF) 6-3
Order: 3, 1

Singles
Yue Lin Chen (NM) def. Meredith Jones (AF) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
Sydney Fitch (AF) def. Natasha Munday (NM) 6-3, 6-3
Alex Kuo (AF) def. Hsuan Huang (NM) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Myu Kageyama (NM) def. Shailla Alda (AF) 6-3, 6-0
Mebeli Becerra (AF) def. Hsiang-Wen Huang (NM) 6-2, 6-4
Hailey Stelse (AF) def. S. Kuuttila-Webbert (NM) 6-0, 6-0
Order: 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 5

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