Broncos' Tournament Run Falls Short In Semifinals

Friday, April 28

Las Vegas, Nev.

Noon MT

Boise State

Semifinal - No. 59 UNLV

4/28/2023 5:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

LAS VEGAS – A magical run at the 2023 Mountain West Women's Tennis Championship for Boise State came to an end as the sixth-seeded Broncos were beaten 4-1 by No. 2 seed UNLV in a semifinal match that went down to the wire, Friday afternoon.

Pauline Ernstberger and Shauna Heffernan won a tiebreaker on doubles court three to give the Broncos (13-11, 4-6 MW) a 1-0 advantage entering singles. The 59th-ranked Rebels (18-3, 8-2 MW) retaliated with a victory on singles court five to even the score before all five of the remaining matches entered a third set.

Shauna Heffernan and Ana Conde Vendrell each forced the final set in their respective matches but were ultimately defeated, giving UNLV a 3-1 advantage. Boise State was closing in on a point at court one as court three sat in a tiebreaker, but the Rebels closed out the match by winning at the No. 2 position.

Quotables

"The margins in our sport are razor thin and it was an incredible battle today against a really talented UNLV team," said head coach Beck Roghaar. "I'm really proud of our team. We definitely left everything we had out there. Coming off of a good win for our team yesterday we didn't show any signs of not being ready to get it again today. We got out on the doubles point quickly before dropping some first sets, but we turned those into three-set matches. From a physical standpoint UNLV might have been a bit fresher than we were, but our team left everything that we had out there. This one hurts a lot because we feel like we had opportunities to win this match. One point here or there turns it the other direction and we felt like it was ours."
"I'm proud of our run to the semifinals and we're hungry for more next time. I'm just incredibly proud of our group and incredibly grateful for the people in and around our program that make this really a joy to do every day. I just love our group so much."

Notables

Holly Stewart picked up her 35th-career win at the No. 2 doubles position, breaking the program record held by Kristin Costi since 1993…Stewart's win was her 20th doubles victory of the season.
Pauline Ernstberger and Shauna Heffernan each earned their 50th-career doubles victories during this MW tournament run. Heffernan reached the mark Thursday against San Diego State while today's win over UNLV earned it for Ernstberger.
Boise State has finished with a winning percentage of .500 or better in each of the last four seasons, and six of the last seven.

(6) Boise State (13-11, 4-6 MW): 1
(2) No. 59 UNLV (18-3, 8-2 MW): 4

Doubles (Order of Finish: 2,1,3)
1) Molly Helgesson/Salsa Aher (UNLV) def. Nicole Discenza/Lorelyz Marruffo (Boise St.) 6-2
2) Joana Baptista/Holly Stewart (Boise St.) def. Cindy Hu/Coco Zhao (UNLV) 6-1
3) Pauline Ernstberger/Shauna Heffernan (Boise St.) def. Zita Kovacs/Aura Fang (UNLV) 7-6(3)

Singles (Order of Finish: 5,4,6,2)
1) Pauline Ernstberger (Boise St.) vs. Molly Helgesson (UNLV) 6-4, 4-6, 5-4 unfinished
2) Zita Kovacs (UNLV) def. Lorelyz Marruffo (Boise St.) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
3) Joana Baptista (Boise St.) vs. Salsa Aher (UNLV) 6-3, 1-6, 6-6 (6-4) unfinished
4) Cindy Hu (UNLV) def. Shauna Heffernan (Boise St.) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5) Coco Zhao (UNLV) def. Nicole Discenza (Boise St.) 6-3, 6-1
6) Aura Fang (UNLV) def. Ana Conde Vendrell (Boise St.) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2