UCO Athletics
Chris Brannick, Director of Sports Media Relations
HAYS, Kan. – The University of Central Oklahoma tennis team cruised to another conference road win Sunday, with the fourth-ranked Bronchos beating Fort Hays State 6-1 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
Central Oklahoma improved to 8-2 on the season with the win – its seventh consecutive victory – and is now 3-0 in league play.
“We had a very different lineup today, but that didn’t change the way the team approached the game,” UCO head tennis coach Jaron Maestas said. “They came out and played the way we want to play every match and we were able to get a win. I’m proud of the team for the way they did that today.”
UCO did not play its top doubles team, the ninth-ranked nationally duo of Paola Landin and Isabella Dunlap, though the pair both played singles. It also did not play 30th-rated Adel-Byanu Abidullina in singles action.
None of that mattered.
Abidullina and Kirtana Bhat went unscathed at No. 1 doubles, winning 6-0 to start the Bronchos off on the right foot. Sarah Van Eeckhoudt and Nikki Boyar then won 6-2 at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point for the Bronchos. Jessica Le and Alix Williams also won 6-2 at No. 3 to make it a clean sweep.
Already up 1-0, it wouldn’t be long for the Bronchos Sunday.
Landin won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to make it 2-0, and Bhat won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 to make it 3-0.
Williams then clinched the match with a breezy 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles to make it 4-0, UCO.
Le also won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 to give Central a 5-0 lead in the dual, and Dunlap won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 to give the Bronchos their final point in the match. Boyar’s third-set tiebreaker loss at No. 5 was the only blemish on the day for the Bronchos.
That was the only blemish on the week for UCO, which has now won seven-straight. The Bronchos also beat Nebraska-Kearney 7-0 on Saturday.
Central Oklahoma will be back in action for a non-conference midweek matchup against Oklahoma Baptist. That dual is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. UCO will then return to Broncho Courts to host Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri next weekend.