Colorado State Box | McNeese Box
Coach Nevolo's Post-Match Thoughts

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU opened its dual match season at home in shutout fashion, winning 7-0 over both Colorado State and McNeese in a doubleheader on Saturday at the SMU Tennis Complex.

Throughout the day, the Mustangs won a total of four doubles matches and 12 singles matches. In singles, SMU only dropped one set. Two sets went to tiebreakers and one match went to three sets.

SMU VS. COLORADO STATE
The Mustangs earned the doubles point with wins from Nicole Petchey/Claudia Bartolome on court two and Sarai Monarrez Yesaki/Tiffany Hollebeck on court three.
Bartolome, Petchey, Hollebeck and Monarrez Yesaki all earned singles points for the Mustangs to clinch the win with two courts still in action.

SMU went on to shut out the Rams after some hard-fought matches. Despite finding herself in a 2-4 deficit, freshman Jackie Nylander rallied to win a tiebreaker in her first set on court one. She went on to win her second set, 6-0, to earn her point for the Mustangs.

On court three, Isabella Tcherkes Zade came back from a 4-6 loss in her first set. The freshman went on to win her second set, 6-4, and the tiebreaker, 10-6.

SMU VS. MCNEESE
Due to missing athletes, McNeese competed with only two doubles pairs and five players in singles slots. SMU won both doubles matchups with Nylander and Tcherkes Zade finishing 6-3 on court one and Petchey and Bartolome winning 6-2 on court two.

Up 2-0 heading into singles, the Mustangs won four points decisively, with Nylander, Tcherkes Zade, Bartolome and Petchey allowing their McNeese opponents to score a total of only five points between them.

Emma Pieroni earned her first career dual-match win over her Cowgirl opponent on court five. She worked her way back from a 3-4 deficit in the first set to win 7-6 after a tiebreaker. She then went on to finish the second set, 6-3, to close out SMU's second shutout of the day.

Up next, SMU hosts another doubleheader as the Mustangs take on New Mexico and Sam Houston State on Friday, Feb. 7 at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT. Later in the weekend, SMU takes on Colorado Sunday, Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. CT at the SMU Tennis Complex.