Photo by: Justin Edmonds

The No. 47 women’s tennis team started the dual season off in fine fashion with a 6-1 victory over DePaul on Saturday afternoon and a 6-1 win over Penn State on Sunday afternoon at Pinehurst Country Club.

Denver’s No. 1 doubles team of junior transfer Mallory Voelker and sophomore Julia Bauregger won its match 8-6 while the No. 2 team of junior Kyla Iwinski and sophomore Ute Schnoy were defeated 8-3. The No. 3 team of junior Kaja Smole and junior Annette Aksdal won 8-2.

In singles play Voelker led the way with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Dunja Antunovic, Schnoy won her match 6-3, 6-3 over Gergana Ganeva. Aksdal, Bauregger and freshman Bhavani Tirumurti also won their single matches while Smole was defeated.

On Sunday, the Pioneers had similar results in their 6-1 victory over Penn State. This match Aksdal and Voelker were paired together in doubles and were victorious 8-6 as were the duo of Bauregger and Schnoy, 8-4. On the other hand Tirumurti and Smole fell 8-3 in their doubles match.

Denver once again dominated in singles play as Voelker led the way with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jenny Shular while Schnoy easily defeated Katelyn BeVard 6-0 and 6-1. Aksdal, Bauregger and Tirumurti were also winners in singles play, Smole was defeated 6-1 and 6-2.

DU is next in action on Friday at 3 p.m. when the team travels to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force. The Pioneers will face Wyoming at 3 p.m. on Saturday also at Air Force.

Denver squares off against No. 50 Washington State at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Last season, Denver faced off against 12 nationally-ranked opponents, and was successful in defeating four of them.

The Pioneers are looking to make the NCAA tournament this season for the first time since 2004.