Straight Sets Means Different Things as Rams Top Broncos

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at San Diego State Classic

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Straight sets don't always look the same.

While Lucia Natal was breezing down at the end of the Wyoming Tennis Facility at No. 4 singles, her teammate on the next court, Somer Dalla-Bona was having to slug out every point and every game of her No. 2 singles match Friday against Boise State.

She was not only taking some blows from the ground swings of opponent Haley Stewart, but uncharacteristically, from herself at times. Normally as calm as they come, Dalla-Bona was not happy with herself at times, which you could see from her facial expression and body language.

That made her angrier than getting mad in the first place. But after she completed a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory, you wouldn't have known.

"I didn't like that part of it, but I'm fine after the match. Like I realize, I was happy how I played beside my serve, but I just needed to get together mentally," Dalla-Bona said. "I think it was both of us. I mean, I'm fine. Whatever happens on the court happens on the court."

Natal was all smiles after her match 6-1, 6-1 scores over Ana Conde Vendrell which had her off the court in no time, but the Rams had to wait out some lengthy results before coming away with a 4-1 team win over Boise State, all resulting from singles victories. The win improved the Rams to 5-2 in Mountain West play, 11-7 overall with a match Sunday against Utah State, which lost earlier in the day to host Wyoming.

While Natal and Dalla-Bona's matches stayed true to form the entire time, the other wins for Colorado State played out much differently. At No. 3 singles, Sarka Richterova had a battle with Joanna Baptista in the first set, a 7-6 (5) tiebreak win which gave her a bit of momentum into a closing 6-2 set. At No. 1 singles, Radka Buzkova exchanged 6-3 results with Pauline Ernsberger, the CSU junior winning the first and third sets, her result ending the day's festivities.

She didn't finish much after Dalla-Bona did, where just about every game played deep into points and required deuces to move to the next. When it seemed one of them had momentum, the other would bounce back. In the end, Dalla-Bona was able to compose herself more often than not to set up a winner to put a tough point, a game or a set away.

But she had to regain her calm to do so with success.

"I have practice losing my temper," she said with a laugh. "I hit good shots, but if I get angry, it doesn't help my game. I need to stay calm."

Which is normally no problem for her. She doesn't carry ebbs and flows on her shoulders, and she's never one to shout out after a big point.

But Friday, she admitted she wasn't feeling herself. What got her back to center was looking to one side of the other.

"No, you see your teammates and you know if you're going to go crazy or get angry, you're going to slam five balls out in a row and you're letting your team down more than yourself," she said. "You just try and enjoy it. Have fun competing. It's hard at times, but usually I'm pretty calm on the court. Getting mad at myself does not help me at all."

Richterova is vocal and expressive on the court, regardless. She and Baptista spent more the entire first set exchanging games, but with it came to the tiebreak, Richterova gained the edge with a couple of nice closing points.

The second game of the second set was just as crucial in her mind, as she was down 40-30 serving, but won the next two points which she felt spilled into the next game to build a 3-0 lead. Winning the first set was a positive step, but more importantly, it showed her how to approach the next one.0

"It's great, but it doesn't change anything. It feels good, but it's just like a relief," she said. "You have a lot of pressure on your back if you lose that first set. After I won the tiebreak, I did start to get more aggressive and I figured that it worked, so I got the confidence back, but I knew I had to grind still, and I had to use that in the second set."

What is creating pressure on the team of late is doubles play. After playing so well there in the fall and early spring, the Rams have hit a rough patch. This was the third conference match in a row where they have dropped the doubles point, and fortunately, the singles have found a way to bail the team out to win two of them.

It's a dangerous way to operate.

"We definitely have to focus on doubles," CSU coach Mai-Ly Tran said. "There are some things we're working through, and they need to understand it will make our life easier if we come out a lot stronger in doubles. That's an area we need to work on. I think they can't rely on their past results in doubles. Every single match is different, and we haven't been consistent enough or aggressive enough, and that's something we need to change."

What she has come to count on is their individual resilience in matches. Natal didn't need it, but the rest of the singles players did.

Buzkova's victory not only sealed the win, but it gave her 22 in singles play this year, tied for the fourth-most in a single season. Like Friday, a good portion of them she's had to buckle down and grit her teeth.

"This team is extremely gritty, and they have all different styles, but after doubles, we knew that was what it was going to take," Tran said. "This team came out with a lot of fire power, but we needed to be consistent, be gritty and just hustle. I told them that after doubles; we need to hustle after every ball, make more balls and make them play."

Sunday's match with the Aggies begins at 2 p.m. It will be the 15^th consecutive match the team has played away from home, a streak which ends at the conclusion of the regular season with a pair of home matches next week.

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