Aggie men and women dominate Seattle at home
The Utah State tennis team hosted Seattle University for an emotional Code Blue game. Both the men’s and women’s teams took to Sports Academy to hold off the Seahawks for the win.
Women
USU 6, SU 1
The women’s team has not faced SU for as long as head coach Chris Wright said he can remember. Heading into the game, the team looked to battle physically, but the mental aspect of the game was a challenge also.
“(It was a) good match, but very tough mentally and physically,” Wright said.
In doubles action USU jumped ahead, winning all three matches.
Junior Jaci West and freshman McKenzie Davis slammed the door shut on Seahawks’ Katrina Schwab and Corinne Wurden. The duo cleaned up in less than a half hour, winning the contest 8-0.
Junior Kristina Voytsekhovich and senior Romina Nedakovic closed out their match against Anna Lambert and Lindsey Newman in the No. 2 doubles position winning 8-3.
Senior Brianna Rowland and freshman Kimberly Watts defeated SU’s Gabriella Weissman and Sarah Lucas 8-6 in the No. 3 doubles position.
Drama escalated on the courts with call disputes and player disagreements. Marchant said the team needed to stay focus and play.
“It’s just the matter of keeping them focused,” Marchant said. “There were some line calls getting in the way and disagreements but we told them to just play tennis.”
West defeated Seattle’s Alexandra Farrar 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles position, and Davis defeated Schwab in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 2 singles position.
Voytsekhovich also defeated SU’s Newman in straight sets in the No. 3 singles position, but it was not without difficulty, Wright said.
“There was a lot of controversy in that match, a lot of overrules and a lot of questioning, but that’s part of it,” he said. “You have to keep your focus. (Voytsekhovich) played very steady and solid. I was proud of her; it was one of the more challenging matchups.”
Newman shed tears when down 3-5 in the second, even stopping play at one point for several minutes. Voystekovich won the match 6-4, 6-3.
Rowland defeated Seahawks’ Lucas 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5 singles position.
The Aggies’ lone loss came from junior Julie Tukuafu, losing to 1-6, 7-6, 10-2 to Wurden in the No. 6 singles position.
The Aggies will host Montana State University at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club on Saturday.
Men
USU 5, SU 2
The Utah State men’s team held off SU, winning the contest 5-2.
In doubles action, the Aggies won the doubles point but dropped one of the three matches.
“We struggled a little bit in doubles, we didn’t play our best but you can’t always expect to play your best,” Marchant said.
In singles action the Aggies battled against a tough SU team.
“We came in expecting to play a good tough match,” Marchant said. “They were fighters.”
Sven Poslusny defeated Mark Shkrebtan in the No. 1 singles position. The Seahawk earned a point penalty for bad behavior after going down 0-4 in the first. Shkrebtan promptly walked over to his chair after the penalty, throwing his racket at his tennis bag and flinging its contents across the court. Poslusny would go on to close out Shkrebtan 6-3, 6-2.
Freshman Marcus Fritz found himself down 1-4 in the second set after winning the first against Simon Meske in the No. 2 singles position. The Swede recovered to win the match 6-3, 6-4.
“Fritz was got a little passive not playing his game, and we told him to step up and take control of the points,” Marchant said.
Freshman Matt Sweet defeated Kevin Lynch 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles position.
Sophomore Fredrick Peterson narrowly won his match against SU’s Flavio Malagutti, 7-5, 7-6 in the No. 3 singles position.
“Peterson’s opponent had a great game, but Peterson has been moving better and that benefited him,” Wright said.
The Aggies’ two losses came from junior Lenny Whiting and senior Nate Ballam.
Whiting fell to Kyle Rapp 4-6, 6-7, 10-8 in the No. 5 singles position, while SU’s Jason Bediones defate Ballam in straight sets in the No. 6 singles position.
USU will travel to Las Vegas to take on University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Friday.
– mega.bodi@aggiemail.usu.edu