Women’s Tennis Completes 4-1 Win over Wyoming

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – On Thursday afternoon, Air Force Women's Tennis secured its fourth win in its last five matches, scoring a 4-1 victory over Wyoming at Cadet East Gym.

The Falcons (8-11, 5-2 MW) took a 1-0 lead behind a hotly contested doubles point. Wyoming's Eugenia Ceinos/Madlena Orlova took the first doubles set, defeating Arianna Van Houweling/Shivaani Selvan 6-4. Air Force found a way to a pair of 6-4 victories on lines one (Abby Cotuna/Sofia Mavor def. Silver Bijlsma/Violetta Borodina) and three (Maya Michalski/Jariahlyn Rhoades def. Serina Abriola/Ruby Young) to secure a 1-0 advantage to start the day.

In singles, Van Houweling was first to complete her match, downing Bijlsma, 6-4, 6-1 on line two. Both Van Houweling and Bijlsma were locked into a close match early in the first set, before Van Houweling took a 3-2 lead that held the rest of the way. In the second, the senior built a 5-0 lead before ceding a game to her opponent. With the win, Van Houweling improved to an 8-3 spring record. Bijlsma was 13-3 in dual singles leading into Thursday's match and was seeking her third-straight win.

Sophomore Sofia Mavor notched a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ceinos to score her fourth dual singles victory this season. With the tally at 2-1 in the opening set, Mavor lifted off, winning four-straight games on the way to a 6-1 finish, then dispatched Ceinos 6-2 to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead in the match.

Wyoming averted a shutout behind a 7-5, 6-0 win for Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia over Cotuna on the top flight – But Falcon freshman Yule Kang clinched the 4-1 Air Force victory. Kang, facing Borodina on court three, claimed a 7-1 first-set tiebreaker then overcame a 5-3 deficit in the second, winning four-consecutive games to secure a straight-set victory and the team win. Kang improved to 7-9 in dual singles competition, while snapping an eight-match win streak for Cowgirl Borodina.

Rhoades, facing Abriola on line six and junior Nadia Kojonroj against Madlena Orlova on court four, both split sets with their Wyoming opposition and led in the third when Air Force clinched the match.

Initial reaction from head coach Taylor Hollander on Thursday's win:
"Today was a battle. We have a ton of respect for Wyoming and knew it would come down to who wanted it more. From top to bottom, everyone competed hard, and it was incredible to see the fight on every court."

Up Next:
Air Force Women's Tennis will honor its two upcoming graduates on Saturday for Senior Day, facing Colorado State at 11 a.m. MT.

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