Utah Tech women’s tennis will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado, for a two-match road trip at the Elliott Tennis Center. The Trailblazers are scheduled to face Colorado Mesa on Friday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m. and Colorado College on Saturday, February 28 at 9:30 a.m., with the start time slightly moved up from its original slot.
Colorado Mesa enters the weekend with a 6-5 record this season. The Mavericks recently swept three matches at the “Phoenix Duels” in Glendale, Arizona. Their doubles team of Catalina Ballon and Delia Maier has a 7-4 record, while Sophie Hartman leads singles play with a 7-1 mark. Dan Macdonald, head coach since 2006, oversees both the men’s and women’s programs and has been named conference coach of the year twelve times.
Colorado College comes into the weekend undefeated at 2-0 overall but has not played yet this spring. Their last matches were in September, including a narrow win over Colorado Mesa. Anthony Weber leads the Tigers as head coach after being promoted from assistant in 2013.
Last week, Utah Tech was defeated by Colorado University in Las Vegas. However, freshman duo Cameron Hendrix and Ilse Fernanda Elechiguerra Ortega had a close contest in doubles before their match went unfinished.
The Trailblazers return seven letter winners from last season’s squad. Sophomore Maya Inouye earned Second Team All-WAC honors for her performance last year and holds the Division I-era single-season wins record for Utah Tech with ten victories.
Newcomers to the team include freshmen Cameron Hendrix and Ilse Fernanda Elechiguerra Ortega. Hendrix won a doubles draw at the Idaho State Invitational last fall with senior Nicole Kells and had success in singles play at another tournament. Elechiguerra Ortega joined from La Ceiba, Mexico.
Eric Pelton is serving his twentieth season as Utah Tech’s head coach and has led his teams to four winning seasons during his tenure. He has mentored ten all-conference selections, including Inouye.
In 2025, Utah Tech achieved its best Division I-era record by finishing 7-13 with several shutout victories but ended its season with a loss to UT Arlington in the WAC Tennis Championships.
This year marks Utah Tech’s final season in the Western Athletic Conference before joining the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026. The move will keep nine women’s tennis programs in the conference after Sacramento State departs for another league.
Following this road trip, Utah Tech will return home for a three-match homestand beginning Thursday, March 5 against New Mexico State.
