Bronco tennis falls to NCAA DII WNMU

NMMI Sports Press
MIDLAND, Texas — The Bronco women’s tennis team lost a close 5-4 match to four-year, DII Western New Mexico University on the opening day of the West Texas Shootout, but overall, coach William O’Connell was happy with what he saw.
“Our girls played well,” he said. “We might have had a better score at the No. 1 doubles. I don’t think our girls played their best, but they did OK. And all of our top four girls played extremely well. Even Thea (Minor) losing, it was in three sets, so overall it was a very good team effort.”
Minor lost in a tough 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 match, while Francisca Nyarko, Lorraine Banimataku and Lorish Puluspene all got victories against the Mustangs. Minor and Banimataku lost their doubles match 8-4, but Nyarko and Pulusphene got a solid 8-2 victory.
The close loss was a big turnaround from last year, when WNMU topped the Institute 8-1.
On the men’s side, the ’Stangs had a wider margin of victory against the Broncos, winning 6-3, but NMMI was a bit handicapped as Hector Rodriguez, who normally play No. 6, was on a choir trip to New York City.
Still, both Herman Abban and Noureldin Adam had solid wins both at singles and doubles.
“We’re very, very solid up top, and we had another good showing,” said men’s coach William O’Connell. “Adam was clearly dominant, a result he seems able to produce very regularly. So it was awesome from the top guys.”
The No. 3, 4 and 5 Broncos couldn’t pull off the win, and even if Rodriguez had been with the team, the outcome might not have changed.
“Western New Mexico is pretty deep, so it still might have been the same result, even if we had Hector with us,” the coach said.
It will be another tough day Friday for the Broncos as they face No. 12-ranked DII Midwestern State University then take on Our Lady of the Lake. They’ll wrap up the tourney Saturday against Sul Ross University, and hope to be able to get a team victory there.
Results
Men
WNMU 6, NMMI 3
Singles
No. 1, Herman Abban, NMMI, def. Tristan Da Lio, WNMU, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
No. 2, Noureldin Adam, NMMI, def. Vladimir Gnilozubov, WNMU, 6-2, 6-3
No. 3, Liam Fraboulet, WNMU, def. Tebatibunga Bira, NMMI, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4, Pablo Santibanez, WNMU, def. Dave Romero, NMMI, 6-2, 6-0
No. 5, Blayze O’Keefe, WNMU, def. Brian Collier, NMMI, 6-1, 6-0
No. 6, Jean-Laurent Pageault,WNMU, won by default
Doubles
No. 1 Abban/Adam, NMMI, def. Da Lio/Gnilozubov, WNMU, 8-5
No. 2, Santibanez/O’Keefe, WNMU, def. Romero/Bira, NMMI, 8-2
No. 3, Fraboulet/Pageault, WNMU, won by default
Women
WNMU 5, NMMI 4
Singles
No. 1, Ashley Newell, WNMU, def. Thea Minor, NMMI, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
No. 2, Francisca Nyarko, NMMI, def. Tiffany Newell, WNMU, 6-7, 6-3, 10-4
No. 3 Lorraine Banimataku, NMMI, def. Claudia Osuna, WNMU, 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Lorish Puluspene, NMMI, def. Gemma Goodland, WNMU, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Annely Heinze, WNMU, def. Amanda Hawkins, NMMI, 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 Diamond Morrill, WNMU, def. Kasia Rosikon, NMMI, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1, A. Newell/Goodland, WNMU, def. Minor/Banimataku, NMMI, 8-4
No. 2 Nyarko/Pulusphene, NMMI, def. T. Newell/Osuna, WNMU, 8-2
No. 3 Heinze/Morrill, WNMU, def. Hawkins/Rosikon, NMMI, 8-0