Three states, 10 schools and no home matches. Over the past seven weeks, the CMU Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams have played in Utah, Arizona and Denver. Without the luxury of having a home-court advantage, the Mavs won 8-1 against Hope International University at the Elliott Tennis Center.

“The home matches are definitely more intense,” coach Jaco Gerbrands said. “You have your home crowd supporting you and a personal sense of excitement that gets everyone pumped up.”

No. 1 singles player Kelleen Sera beat Jasmin Zaragoza 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Sera and Zaragoza faced off earlier in their doubles match, in which the Sera sisters were able to solidify an 8-1 pro-set victory over Zaragoza and Alyssa Pritchett.

The men’s team also came out with a victory, beating HIU 6-3. No. 3 singles Andres Hernandez came out on top in a three-set match against HIU’s John-Douglass Owens 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

“It was a tough match,” Hernandez said. “He was just really consistent. I tried to be defensive but the first set was really tough.”

Both players were evenly matched and their first game alone produced a large number of deuces.

“I started to get desperate,” Hernandez said. “Jaco just reminded me to be patient, set up the point, and keep fighting.”

Hernandez and Owens squared off earlier in their doubles match, in which Hernandez and Jordan Lynden beat Owens and Tulio Amaral 8-5 in their pro-set victory.

“The doubles match helped me,” Hernandez said. “I got to see how he played and the win helped my confidence.”

Lynden also went on to win his match 6-3, 6-2 over Ivan Rashkov.

The tennis teams are preparing themselves for a weekend against Metro State, Augustana College and Sonoma State University.

“We’ll be sharpening the skills we have attained from our previous matches and working with the players on specific game plans that will make them better,” Gerbrands said. “Furthermore, we encourage them to use their weapons during a match situation and also continue to build confidence in their mental game.”

The men’s and women’s teams will have their final home matches this weekend. They’ll kick off the weekend Thursday afternoon against Metro State at 4 p.m.