The Lady Salukis started their 2014-15 campaign in between a rock and a hard place in Boulder, Co.

The team competed in the University of Colorado Invitational. The six-team tournament pitted the Salukis against hosts Colorado, the University of Arkansas, Liberty University, University of New Mexico and University of Utah.

The team finished Sunday by going 7-14 in singles bracket play and 6-12 in doubles.

“This was a challenging tournament,” said Coach Audra Anderson. “All of these teams were nationally ranked at some point last season. It was good competition for us, but a lot of the girls had trouble adjusting to the altitude.”

Meagan Monaghan, a sophomore from Denver, was one of the highlights for the team. She went 3-1 in singles play and 3-2 in doubles with partner, senior Natasha Tomishima, with their two losses coming from tiebreakers.

Being a Colorado native, Monaghan was able to combat the issues of playing at such high elevation.

“Some of the girls were struggling with the ball flying away from them,” Monaghan said. “I told them to not concentrate on breathing so much and told them to aim lower, so the ball doesn’t get away.”

Monaghan’s lone singles loss came in straight sets to Colorado’s senior Julyette Steur, winner of the Gold Single’s Bracket.

“I have to improve a lot to beat her and girls like her,” she said. “But I did gain a bit of confidence from playing with her.”

Anderson also saw promise from Athena Chrysanthou, freshman from London. Chrysanthou lost in the semi-finals of the Silver bracket in three sets. As well as a good final day from senior Ariadna Cairo Baza, who won the Black draw consolation final in three sets.

Friday, the team heads to Des Moines, Ia. for the MVC Individual Championships.

Austin Miller can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter @AMiller_DE.