Wyoming
Mustang Women's Tennis Wraps Up Historic Season at NIT Championship
5/20/2023 6:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
ATLANTA, Ga. — Cal Poly women's tennis fought until the final point, but came up short in a tightly-contested battle with No. 70 Wyoming in a Universal Tennis NIT Championship consolation match Saturday at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
The Mustangs won the doubles point for the 16th time this season and sophomore Peyton Dunkle became the second player in Division I program history to secure a postseason singles victory, however the Cowgirls grabbed a 5-2 win in the first all-time meeting between the two programs.
The match officially put a bow on another historic season for the Mustangs, who ended the year with a 14-11 overall record. This marks the third straight season Cal Poly has finished with 14 or more wins — a first in the program's Division I history.
In doubles against Wyoming, sophomore Eliza Bates and freshman Sarah MacCallum teamed up for the first time and captured a 6-4 victory at No. 3. After the Cowgirls won at No. 2, it all came down to court No. 1 and the Dunkle sisters pulled out a clutch win to seal the doubles point. The All-Big West Second Team doubles tandem of redshirt junior Delanie Dunkle and Peyton Dunkle earned a 7-5 victory to finish the year with a 15-8 record, tied for the fifth-most dual victories by a doubles pairing in a season in Division I program history.
Peyton picked up the Mustangs' lone singles victory, winning in straight sets in her first career match at the No. 2 spot. Peyton joins graduate student Kim Bhunu, who beat Colorado's No. 1 in Wednesday's NIT quarterfinal match, as the only players in Division I program history to claim postseason singles victories. She finishes the season with a 12-8 record, including a 7-1 mark at the No. 4 spot.
Delanie (No. 3) and Bates (No. 6) both went point-for-point with their opponents in singles play, but came up just short in the end.
The Mustangs, who played in the Big West Championship match for the third consecutive year three weeks ago, went 0-2 at the inaugural NIT Championship, falling to a pair of ranked opponents in their first postseason appearance in 12 years. Cal Poly gained valuable experience at the tournament that they will carry with them into next season as the program returns seven of the eight players that made the trip to Peachtree City.
Players Mentioned
