Photo by Alex Knaak / Nevada Sagebrush
One by one, the Nevada sports are coming to the end of the road.
This past weekend, the men’s and women’s tennis and golf teams made an appearance in what all four teams have been working for all season: the Mountain West Conference Championships.
MEN’S
TENNIS
I thought the men that made this team had the potential to go all the way and take No. 1 in the MWC.
The Wolf Pack had an overall 19-5 record and was undefeated at home with 10 victories. It notched a season-high of six straight wins. The two top players of the team were its only seniors: Quentin Mege and Victor Ouvrard with overall records in singles play of 24-9 and 21-5, respectively. Ouvrard also shined in doubles competition with partner Robert Allan, who together earned a 20-3 record.
Yet, it all ended too soon for Nevada in a close 4-2 loss to Boise State in the semifinals on Saturday.
Although the Pack was talented and saw an overall successful season, it wasn’t enough to conquer the top-seeded Broncos. Nevada, ranked at No. 4 and went 0-2 in doubles play and was 2-5 in singles play. Mountain West Player of the Year Ouvrard grabbed one of Nevada’s victories in singles action.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
The quarterfinals for the women’s match were rescheduled for Saturday due to rain. Even with an extra day to at least mentally prepare and regroup, the Nevada women’s tennis team wasn’t as fortunate as the men’s team.
It fell to New Mexico 4-2. The Wolf Pack was coming into the match as the underdogs, as it was ranked No. 7, while the Lobos stood tall and proud at the No. 2 spot.
Nevada was initially off to a hot start with a quick 2-0 lead. Those two victories came from Michelle Okhremchuk and Sheila Morales, but these were Nevada’s only wins that day, as New Mexico claimed the next four.
MEN’S GOLF
Out of Nevada’s 10 players, the team sent its five best, which were seniors Ryan Mulvany, Josh Baskins and Brian Knoll, junior Nicholas Smits, and freshman Rhyne Jones.
The Wolf Pack has been mostly mediocre at best throughout the season, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that it concluded its season with the same kind of performance in the MWC Championships. It improved from ninth place to fifth on the second day of competition, but it dropped to take sixth place on the third and final day in Tucson, Ariz.
In the final round, Nevada fired an eight-over 292 and finished with a 26-over 878 for the tournament.
WOMEN’S GOLF
The Wolf Pack finished in seventh place after day one of the Mountain West Championships and finished at that same spot. Nevada shot a 22-over 310 in the final round and finished the tournament with a 64-over 928.
It was another mediocre performance, and the team actually dropped from last year’s finish where it earned a spot at fourth place.
Of these four teams, men’s tennis was the most impressive and consistent.
Mege and Ouvrard will wave farewell to Nevada after what was a successful year for the two, while the seven other players of the team will hopefully continue the success that their two fellow seniors brought.
Alexa Ard can be reached at aard@sagebrush.unr.edu.