PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's tennis concluded its fall home dual schedule here Saturday by suffering two hard-fought setbacks to Fort Hays State and Dallas Baptist at the Pueblo City Park Tennis Courts.
 
To start off Saturday's action, the Pack played a nearly four-hour match with Fort Hays State as they suffered a 4-3 loss to Tigers, before falling later Saturday 6-1 to Dallas Baptist. The 4-3 loss to Fort Hays State was the closest the Pack have come to a win in a dual match since earning 5-2 win over New Mexico Military Institute on March 23, 2019.
 
With the two setbacks, the ThunderWolves fall to 0-4 on the season.
 
FORT HAYS STATE 4, CSU PUEBLO 3
The two teams began the match with doubles and the Tigers (2-0) would earn the doubles point as they won all three of the matches, but not without a fight by the Pack.
 
FHSU would win by identical 6-2 scores at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, but the Pack's No. 3 team of junior Malaya Pendon (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East) and freshman Yelena Travica (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Maples Collegiate) forced a tiebreaker against Grace Unruh and Bethan Gill as FSHU would collect a 7-6 (7-2) win.
 
In singles play, the Pack would collect wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, but FHSU was able to win the match thanks to wins at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
 
At No. 2 singles, sophomore Margot Aebischer (Etupes, France/Eastern Arizona College) picked up a win in a third-set tiebreaker over Shreethika Vangala as Aebischer won the first set, 6-4, but Vangala won the second set, 6-4 to set up a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Aebischer would prevail, 10-5.
 
Freshman Mariangel Nunez (Weston, Fla./Unidad Educativa Padre Claret) picked up her second singles win of the 2023-24 season as she defeated Fiorella Mendez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 3 singles spot.
 
The Pack's third singles win came at the No. 4 spot as junior Valentina Brienza (Rionero in Vulture, Italy/University of the District of Columbia) picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over FHSU's Ines Latorre.
 
In the other three singles matches, the Pack won a total of seven games, with junior Marta Garcia (Alcala de Hernares, Spain/Cardinal Stitch) winning four of those games at the No. 1 singles spot against Irina Alfonso. Alfonso won 6-1, 6-3.
 
DALLAS BAPTIST 6, CSU PUEBLO 1
In Saturday's final match against Dallas Baptist, the Patriots (3-0) would earn a 6-1 win over the Pack.
 
The match began with doubles and in doubles, DBU would drop just three games to post wins of 6-2 at No. 1, 6-1 at No. 2 and 6-0 at No. 3.
 
Meanwhile, in singles action, Nunez collected the lone win for the Pack and improved to 3-1 on the season in singles as she collected a win in a third-set tiebreaker against Madalyn Smelley at the No. 2 spot. Smelley opened with a 7-6 (7-4) win in the first set, before Nunez won 6-2 in the second set to force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Nunez would post a 10-5 win.
 
Brienza played a competitive match at the No. 3 spot as she fell in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to Sofia Teran, while Aebischer, who played at the No. 1 spot in the line-up, fell 7-5, 6-0 to Caroline Hudson.
 
Garcia would play the No. 4 spot in singles, and fell 6-3, 6-1 to Isabella Arana Rios.
 
The Pack will return to action next weekend (Sept. 23-25) as they travel to Arlington, Texas, to compete in the ITA South Central Regional Championships and then will conclude the fall campaign with a 9 a.m. match on Sept. 30 at Colorado Mesa.
 
Fort Hays State 4, CSU Pueblo 3
Singles Competition
No. 1 – Iriana Alfonso (FHSU) def. Marta Garcia (CSUP), 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 – Margot Aebischer (CSUP) def. Shreethika Vangala (FHSU), 6-4, 4-6, 10-5
No. 3 – Mariangel Nunez (CSUP) def. Fiorella Mendez (FHSU), 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 – Valentina Brienza (CSUP) def. Ines Latorre (FHSU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 – Grace Unruh (FHSU) def. Malaya Pendon (CSUP), 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 – Bethan Gill (FHSU) def. Yelena Travica (CSUP), 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles Competition
No. 1 – Alfonso/Mendez (FHSU) def. Garcia/Nunez (CSUP), 6-2
No. 2 – Latorre/Vangala (FHSU) def. Aebischer/Brienza (CSUP), 6-2
No. 3 – Unruh/Gill def. Pendon/Travica (CSUP), 7-6 (7-2)
 
Dallas Baptist 6, CSU Pueblo 1
Singles Competition
No. 1 – Caroline Hudson (DBU) def. Margot Aebischer (CSUP), 7-5, 6-0
No. 2 – Mariangel Nunez (CSUP) def. Madalyn Smelley (DBU), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 10-5
No. 3 – Sofia Teran (DBU) def. Valentina Brienza (CSUP), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 – Isabella Arana Rios (DBU) def. Marta Garcia (CSUP), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 – Jenna Payne (DBU) def. Avery Soto (CSUP), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 – Sarah Stewart (DBU) def. Sonrisa Bustamante (CSUP), 6-0, 6-2
 
Doubles Competition
No. 1 – Payne/Smelley (DBU) def. Garcia/Nunez (CSUP), 6-2
No. 2 – Teran/Arana Rios (DBU) def. Aebischer/Brienza (CSUP), 6-1
 No. 3 -   Sarah Castleberry/Hudson (DBU) def. Malaya Pendon/Yelena Travica (CSUP), 6-0