Rams All About Making Some Noise

LARAMIE, Wyo. – These moments are why Mai-Ly Tran came to Colorado State.

To do things which haven't been done in a long time or ever before. To take each of those moments in the women's tennis program and build off them to the next. As impressive as Sunday's 4-0 sweep of New Mexico was, it was also part of bigger news. It was the first time in 13 seasons the team had swept a weekend in Mountain West play, dating back to wins over Air Force and Wyoming on April 18-19, 2009.

While most of these accomplishments are surprises to a new coach and a rebuilt roster, each is a pleasant building block toward the ultimate goal.

To make some real noise.

Lucia Natal has no issue cranking up the volume. Neither does teammate Sarka Richterova, and appropriately they were located on the far east and west of the four-court indoor setup at the Wyoming Tennis Facility. When either of them won a key point or a big game, the rest of the building was made aware. A scream, a shriek, a fist pump or all of the above, followed by the chant of "Go Rams!" Then from the other courts, the sentiment was returned, and it echoed throughout the place.

This is who Natal is, her Spanish passion flowing into her game and giving it life, and in turn, her teammates.

"That's 100 percent part of my job. It makes it fun for me, and I think it helps the team a lot, bring up the energy," Natal said. "I think I have to do a good job in that, because it affects the entire team. I also enjoy it. I just don't do it because I have to or I feel like it's going to help, it's how I enjoy every single moment on the court.

"It's how I play. It's part of me."

She and Richterova are part of a group of five transfers who have raised the level of play within the program, as well as the expectations. Playing in the No. 4 spot, Natal cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over My Kageyama on the far east court, improving her singles mark to 15-2 on the season. Her winning percentage of 88.2 currently stands as a single-season record for the program with plenty of matches in front her of her.

When she's playing well, she's loud. And when she's winning, she can become even louder. Because the best part of playing college tennis is piling up victories.

"I like to fight every single point. I refuse to lose," she said. "I think I try to play smart. It's not that I really have big shots; I'm not the biggest hitter on the team, but I refuse to lose. I hate losing. That's what I do – I stay on the court, I try to play smart and fight and win."

Imagine playing in between them, which Radka Buzkova and Somer Dalla-Bona did during the day. One would yell, and everybody would look over if they could to see what happened. Then they'd yell back.

It works to feed them all, though no one would want to guess who is louder between Natal and Richterova.

"It's amazing. I hear every point she wins," Buzkova said. "Sarka too. I know what they're doing.

"I have a feeling we're all going through the same thing, and I feel like they're by my side, so they're helping me bring out the energy. I just feel them so much. I get so used to it, so now it's natural for me because I feel their energy, so I help them by giving them my energy. It's like a big train going together, you know."

The CSU train is one which is starting to get louder, too. Now 9-6 on the season, the Rams sit 3-1 in Mountain West play. The three wins match what they did the past two seasons there were conference matches, and the program has never won more than five conference matches in one campaign.

Targets are good to have, and they require fuel.

"I think the entire team did a great job, but obviously Sarka and Lucia are very passionate players, so that energy is just contagious for the entire team," Tran said. "It was nice to have them on the ends and just bring up the energy level. That's what we focused on this weekend, being energetic, being confident and having fun with it. I think they did a great job and finished really strong with this match and took care of a good team."

Buzkova was second off the court, beating Hsuan Huang 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2, then Richterova finished off Sarah O'Connor at No. 3, 6-3, 6-4. It was unfortunate they didn't get to finish other matches, because Dalla-Bona was ahead at No. 1 in what had been an incredible string of play for her.

All four CSU singles players lost the first game, but Dalla-Bona would eventually fall behind 3-0, then rallied back. When she was up 6-5 and serving to close out the first set, she fell behind love-40 to Yue Lin Chen before coming all the way back. She led 3-1 in the second when the team point was clinched. Three singles matches were all the team needed after the top two doubles tandems of Dalla-Bona/Richterova and Buzkova/Matea Mihaljevic won 6-3, 7-5. Buzkova and Mihaljevic were down 5-3 before reeling off a string of four games.

It is that type of grit Tran has come to appreciate most about her squad.

"I think when they have hard matches, they're able to trust themselves and really come out and believe in themselves," she said. "They've been able to bounce back from tough losses. Every day, we have such a talented and deep team, some days girls are picking up for their teammates. We have a solid team, and it's been great to watch."

Colorado State has already registered some firsts this season. The Rams had an ITA Regional champion in the doubles team of Buzkova and Mihaljevic. They became the first Rams to go to ITA Nationals, joined by Dalla-Bona and Richterova. Buzkova and Mihaljevic each have 23 doubles wins on the year, tying the program record for the most in a single season, originally set by Hilary Tyler in 2006-07.

The squad won a conference opener for the first time in 12 years last week, and this week's sweep is another accomplishment to add to the pile.

Most of the feats catch them off guard, but they matter. They build confidence and momentum, because the Rams have a bigger goal set, they know would be a grand first.

"It's good news we beat CU, but it's not a surprise. Our goal is not beating CU, it's winning conference and going to nationals and then keep working on that," Natal said. "These things give us a lot of motivation. I think we have a really good team to achieve some of these things."

A team worth cheering for, from one end of the building to the other.

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Radka Buzkova

Somer Dalla-Bona

Matea Mihaljevic

Lucia Natal

Sarka Richterova