DENVER, Colo. – Playing its third match in the last four days here Sunday, the Colorado State University Pueblo women's tennis team fell 7-0 to MSU Denver on a windy afternoon at the Assembly Athletic Complex Tennis Courts.
 
With the setback, the ThunderWolves drop their record to 0-11 on the season, while MSU Denver improves to 9-11 on the season.
 
Sunday's match completed a stretch of three matches in four days for the Pack as they opened the stretch with a home match on Thursday against Stanislaus State, before hosting Colorado Mesa indoors at the Pueblo Tennis Center on Saturday morning and then facing the Roadrunners in Denver on Sunday.
 
In Sunday's match, the two teams began by playing doubles as the Pack won nine games against the Roadrunners.
 
MSU Denver got the match with a win at No. 3 doubles as Kim Heddes and Mikayla McKenzie were able to outlast the Pack duo of freshman Yelena Travica (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and senior Sonrisa Bustamante (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo Central), 6-3.
 
The Pack's No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Margot Aebischer (Etupes, France/Eastern Arizona College) and freshman Mariangel Nunez (Weston, Fla./Unidad Educativa Padre Claret) fell 6-2 to Lilly Stienemeier and Emily Hafner.
 
MSU Denver would pick up a sweep of the doubles matches as their No. 2 team of Hanna Haber and Kambra Roles defeated the Pack tandem of junior Valentina Brienza (Rionero in Vulture, Italy/University of the District of Columbia) and junior Marta Garcia (Alcala de Hernares, Spain/Cardinal Stritch), 6-4.
 
With MSU Denver holding a 1-0 lead in the match following the doubles, the teams turned their focus to singles. The Pack were able to win 27 games against the Roadrunners, including forcing a third set tiebreaker at the No. 3 spot between Nunez and Stienemeier.
 
The Roadrunners took a 2-0 lead in the match following its 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 5 single spot by Courtenay Leonard over junior Malaya Pendon (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East).
 
MSU Denver took a 3-0 lead in the match as Bustamante fell in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) to Monica Guarin at the No. 6 spot.
 
The Roadrunners clinched the match with its win at the No. 1 singles spot as 28th-ranked Hafner defeated Aebischer in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
 
Haber gave the Roadrunners a 5-0 lead in the match as she posted a hard-fought 6-2, 6-2 win over Brienza at the No. 2 spot in the line-up.
 
Garcia was able to take six games off Roles at the No. 4 singles spot as she fell 6-3, 6-3. Roles' win gave MSU a 6-0 lead in the match.
 
The most competitive match of the day was Nunez's match at No. 3 singles. Nunez opened the match with a 6-4 win in the first set. Stienemeier would come back and win the second set, 6-3 to force a third set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, the players went back-and-forth before Stienemeier picked a 10-6 win in the tiebreaker to seal the victory. The third set tiebreaker was Nunez's third of the season.
 
CSU Pueblo, who is coached by Chris Roman, will return to action next Friday, April 12 with an 11 a.m. match in Grand Junction, Colo., against Colorado Mesa, before concluding the 2024 season with a 3 p.m. home match on Friday, April 19 against the University of New Mexico.
 
MSU Denver 7, CSU Pueblo 0
Singles Competition
No. 1 – #28 Emily Hafner (MSUD) def. Margot Aebischer (CSUP), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 – Hanna Haber (MSUD) def. Valentina Brienza (CSUP), 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 – Lilly Stienemeier (MSUD) def. Mariangel Nunez (CSUP), 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
No. 4 – Kambra Roles (MSUD) def. Marta Garcia (CSUP), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Courtenay Leonard (MSUD) def. Malaya Pendon (CSUP), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 – Monica Guarin (MSUD) def. Sonrisa Bustamante (CSUP), 6-0, 6-0
 
Doubles Competition
No. 1 – Stienemeier/Hafner (MSUD) def. Nunez/Aebischer (CSUP), 6-2
No. 2 – Haber/Roles (MSUD) def. Garcia/Brienza (CSUP), 6-4
No. 3 – Heddes/McKenzie (MSU) def. Bustamante/Yelena Travica (CSUP), 6-3
 
Match Notes:
CSU Pueblo 0-11
MSU Denver 9-11
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,1,2,4,3)