In the final match of the day at CityPickle in Central Park, the Utah Black Diamonds earned an impressive 3-1 victory over the New York Hustlers.

Callie Smith and Alix Truong had a chance to get Utah on the board first with match points against New York’s Jackie Kawamoto and Lea Jansen in women’s doubles, but they ended up falling by a 25-27 score line.

Utah wouldn’t lose again after that.

Tyler Loong and Connor Garnett evened the match with a comfortable win over Jack Sock and CJ Klinger to bring on mixed doubles.

Smith was able to put her prior defeat in women’s doubles behind her, as she and Loong earned a comprehensive 25-16 victory over Kawamoto and Klinger.

“Mentally, you’ve got to have a short memory when it comes to losing and just know that there’s always going to be another match,” Smith said of bouncing back after a loss.

Shortly thereafter, Truong earned some redemption of her own as she and Garnett closed out the match with a 28-26 win over Jansen and Sock.

The Black Diamonds—although still near the bottom of the Premier level standings—have put together some good performances recently after dropping their first six matches of the year.

Smith credits that success with growing team chemistry.

“The longer we’ve played together, the closer we’ve gotten as a team, and I think that our friendship and camaraderie have grown exponentially,” she mentioned. “Not only do we have a good time as a team, but I feel like we have each other’s backs. That’s the biggest thing—when you support each other during play, whether you’re up or down. That helps our team do well.”

Utah will look to build on Thursday’s performance when they face the Columbus Sliders and Carolina Pickleball Club on Friday.