Women’s Tennis Claims Doubles, Falls in Mountain West Opener at UNLV

LAS VEGAS – Despite picking back up on its early-season successes in doubles, it was singles play that proved troublesome for the Air Force women's tennis team on Saturday afternoon, as the Falcons fell 4-1 at UNLV to open Mountain West play.

In doubles with court two clinched first for the Rebels, it was Sydney Fitch/Alexis Odom on line one who were able to strike first for the Falcons, earning a 6-4 victory – improving to a 6-2 dual doubles record on the spring.

The doubles-clinching win belonged to Arianna Van Houweling/Courtney Swift on court three, earning a victory in their first-career match as a pairing and improving Air Force's dual doubles record to 9-3. Van Houweling/Swift downed Nina Zdravkovic/Salsa Aher, 6-4, snapping a three-match win streak for the UNLV tandem.

It was a shutout in singles for the Falcons, as UNLV earned points on courts one, three and four, before a straight-set win on court six for Aura Fang over Van Houweling secured a team win for the Rebels.

On court five, Swift, after taking her first set against UNLV's Coco Zhao 6-2, trailed 5-4 in the second before her match was called.

From Head Coach Kim Gidley:
"I was proud of the team effort today. Last year, UNLV did not lose a doubles point all year in conference play, so to play them in Vegas and come way with the doubles point was huge for our team.

"This group fights so much and is getting better with every match. In the singles, UNLV was solid in every position did not give us anything."

Air Force women's tennis (4-8, 0-1 MW) tackles the second leg of its doubleheader weekend in Vegas on Sunday morning, facing No. 49 San Diego State at 10:30 a.m. MT.

UNLV 4, Air Force 1

Singles competition
1. Molly Helgesson (UNLV-W) def. Sydney Finch (AFA) 6-1, 6-3
2. Zita Kovacs (UNLV-W) vs. Isabella Flodin (AFA) 7-6 (8-6), 5-4, unfinished
3. Salsa Aher (UNLV-W) def. Alexis Odom (AFA) 6-2, 6-2
4. Cindy Hu (UNLV-W) def. Courtney Swift (AFA) 6-3, 6-3
5. Coco Zhao (UNLV-W) vs. Abby Cotuna (AFA) 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
6. Aura Fang (UNLV-W) def. Arianna Van Houweling (AFA) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Sydney Finch/Alexis Odom (AFA) def. Molly Helgesson/Zita Kovacs (UNLV-W) 6-4
2. Cindy Hu/Coco Zhao (UNLV-W) def. Abby Cotuna/Isabella Flodin (AFA) 6-1
3. Arianna Van Houweling/Courtney Swift (AFA) def. Nina Zdravkovic/Salsa Aher (UNLV-W) 6-4

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,3,4,6)

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