NMMI Sports Press
08-Mar-10

ABILENE, Texas – The Bronco women’s tennis team hit the road this weekend to take on two teams in the NCAA’s division II Lone Star Conference, plus the NJCAA’s 3rd ranked women’s tennis team in the country, Lee College.

Friday’s play began against Lee College. Top seed Karla Martinez defeated the Rebel’s ace, Dionecia Akina in a split set tie-breaker. Martinez and Akanesi Fa then teamed up at No. 1 doubles to defeat Akina and Manuela Gomez in a very close pro set, 9-8. Breigh Shotwell and Deborah Wright both fell in singles play and again in doubles.

Friday afternoon’s match was against NCAA D2 school Abilene Christian University. The Lady Broncos were unable to snag a win in either singles or doubles play, but both Martinez and Fa came close, forcing tie-breakers in their singles matches.

Against University of the Incarnate Word on Saturday, another NCAA D2 opponent, the Institue picked up wins in the first three singles spots: Martinez defeated Stephanie Rodriguez, Fa defeated Erica Engberg, and Breigh Shotwell got her first win of the season by outlasting Alex Adams.

“We played some tough competition this weekend,” said Bronco coach Zeljka Vidic. “It’s good for us to get experience by going up against top programs like these. We’re getting better and we’ll keep plugging away.”

Match Scores:

NMMI’s No.2 singles player Akanesi Fa returns a forehand from the baseline.

NMMI Sports Press
02-Mar-10

The top two seeds for the Lady Broncos blanked their singles opponents, then bested them again at doubles, but couldn’t pick up another win against the University of the Southwest, losing the match, 3-6. Playing one player short gave the visiting Mustangs a two-point lead due to forfeitures at No.6 singles and No.3 doubles.

“I’m pleased with the way the girls played,” said NMMI coach Zeljka Vidic. “Karla Martinez and Akanesi Fa dominated in both doubles and singles. [Breigh] Shotwell lost a really close match at No.3 singles. [Deborah] Wright and [Lorna] Kimple played hard and are getting better. “

Next up for the Broncos are three matches in Abilene, TX on Friday and Saturday, March 5^th and 6^th. First up will be Lee College, Southeast Oklahoma to follow, and then Incarnate Word.

The results for each match are listed below:

Photo Gallery:

Karla Martinez with the forehand during singles play.

Breigh Shotwell with the serve.

Deborah Wright turns to hit the forehand shot.

Akanesi Fa serving.

Martinez gets off a backhand.

Wright extends on the serve.

Shotwell returning a shot at the baseline.

NMMI Sports Report
06-Feb-10

Abilene, TX – The Bronco’s No.1 and 2 singles players, Karla Martinez and Akanesi Fa, and No.1 doubles combination, Martinez and Fa, swept the top seeds from two NCAA Div. III schools: Hardin-Simmons University and McMurry University. Head coach Zeljka Vidic said that although the Broncos as a team lost 3-6* overall to each school, she was glad to see improvement by all the players over the course of the two matches.

Here’s the results from each match:

NMMI vs. Hardin Simmons University
Singles:
NMMI’s Karla Martinez won vs. HSU’s Lisa Mertz, 6-4 ; 6-4
NMMI’s Akanesi Fa won vs. HSU’s Morgan Rainer, 6-2 ; 6-2
NMMI’s Breigh Shotwell lost vs. HSU’s Laren Jay, 6-0; 6-1
NMMI’s Debra Wright lost vs. HSU’s Brittany Brazell, 6-0; 6-0
NMMI’s Lorna Kimple lost vs. HSU’s Danielle Cochran, 6-0; 6-0

Doubles:
NMMI’s Martinez/Fa won vs. HSU’s Mertz/Brazell, 8-4
NMMI’s Shotwell/Wright lost vs. HSU’s Jennifer Cheung/Diane Crouch, 8-0

NMMI vs. McMurry
Singles:
NMMI’s Karla Martinez won vs. McM’s Natalie Rodriquez, 6-1; 6-0
NMMI’s Akanesi Fa, Nesi won vs. McM’s Whitney Zugal, 6-1; 6-2
NMMI’s Breigh Shotwell lost vs. McM’s Gavek Olsen, 6-3; 6-0
NMMI’s Debra Wright lost vs. McM’s Chelsea Miller, 6-2; 6-0
NMMI’s Lorna Kimple lost vs. McM’s Hilary Stone, 6-0; 6-0

Doubles:
NMMI’s Martinez/Fa won vs. McM’s Zugal/Rodriguez, 8-0
NMMI’s Shotwell/Wright lost vs. McM’s Olsen/Miller, 8-0

*Note: The reason for 3-6 final match scores is that since NMMI didn’t have a sixth player, they had to forfeit the final singles and doubles matches.

Top left: Karla Martinez. Bottom right: Akanesi Fa.

NMMI Sports Press
14-Dec-09

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has released it’s pre-season rankings for NJCAA women’s tennis. The second-year New Mexico Military Institute women’s tennis program, under head coach Zeljka Vidic, has posted one singles player and one doubles team on the vaunted list:

• NMMI Freshman Karla Martinez, from Gomez Palacio, Mexico, is ranked No.12 in the nation among NJCAA Division 1 women’s tennis players.
• Martinez and her doubles partner Akanesi Fa, a sophomore from Suva, Fiji, have been tagged as the No. 9 tandem in the nation going into the Spring 2010 season.

The ITA periodically ranks NJCAA men’s and women’s tennis, listing the top 25 teams, top 100 singles players and top 40 doubles teams in the nation. The rankings listed above come from their most recent posting, released Nov. 6th, 2009, and can be viewed in it’s entirety via the link below:
NJCAA Women’s National Rankings

Head Coach Zeljka Vidic
for NMMI Sports Press
23-Sep-09

Hobbs – The Bronco Women’s Tennis team played a scrimmage match against the University of Southwest.  The girls played well overall, especially Karla Martinez (#1 singles and doubles) and Nesi Fa (#2 singles and #1 doubles).  They dominated in #1 and #2 singles and doubles spots. Breigh Shotwell had a tough and close match and came up just short in the 3rd set tiebreak.   Deborah Wright lost her debut match but she played better than expected.

Here are the results:

Singles
#1 Martinez, Karla – Lindsey Hoffman – 6-0, 6-1
#2 Fa, Nesi – Andrea Venegas – 6-1, 6-1
#3 Shotwell, Breigh – Kelly Sessions – 2-6, 6-3, 6-10
#4 Wright Deborah – Mary Taxton – 0-8
Wright Deborah – Tori Delgado – 0-8
Fa, Nesi – Stephanie Russell – 6-1

Doubles:
Martinez/Fa- Tori Delgado/Kelly Sessions – 6-2, 6-0