At the weekend: Utah State tennis
Both the Utah State men’s and women’s tennis teams played over the weekend, with the women beating Southern Utah University 7-0 and the men falling to the University of Denver 4-1. The match against SUU was the team’s first of the season, giving them a record of 1-0.
The women took the victory without conceding a match and only losing one set in both singles and doubles play. The Aggies won the double’s point with the partnership of sophomore Sidnee Lavati and senior Hannah Jones winning on the first position 7-5, freshmen Carolina Millan and Renata Lombera winning on the second position 6-4, and freshman Zara Ryan and sophomore Annaliese County winning on the third position 7-5. In singles play, senior Lucy Octave won in straight sets 6-1 and 6-4; sophomore Gabrielle Dekkers won in straight sets 6-2 and 7-5; Zara Ryan won a close match in three sets 6-4, 3-6, and 7-5; Hannah Jones won in straight sets 7-6 and 6-4; Carolina Millan won in straight sets 6-1 and 6-1; finally, Annaliese County won in straight sets 6-3 and 7-5.
After the match, Utah State head coach Sean McInerney said, “We feel really good.”
“When you have a team playing its seventh match versus a team that’s playing its first, you’re a little nervous going in. We handled situations well and got a lot out of it,” McInerney said. “I’m really proud of the team. We came out and battled. We had some good moments and bad moments, and we’re going to get a lot better. This was a perfect start for us.”
The women’s team will be looking to have a strong season this year and will hope to improve on their record of 12-11 last season. They appear to be well on their way towards achieving that goal.
Utah State’s men’s team didn’t fare quite as well as the women against the University of Denver on Saturday, dropping the match 1-4. The team’s sole point on the day came from senior Sergiu Bucur; he won in straight sets from the second position, 6-4 and 6-1. It was a rough outing for the rest of the team, with only freshman Arvid Hjalte and junior Felipe Acosta winning a set. Hjalte’s match was dropped 6-0, 4-6, and 6-4 while Acosta lost 6-1, 4-6 and 10-8. Other matches included Javier Ruiz dropping his match in straight sets 6-1 and 6-1; freshman Roko Savin dropping his match in straight sets 6-2 and 6-2; freshman Christian Holmes dropping his match in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-2.
The loss for the men’s team put its record at 1-4 on the season — the sole win coming in its season opener against Grand Canyon University.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be playing this weekend. The men will be on the road playing against the Utah Utes on Friday and Brigham Young University Cougars Saturday. The women’s team will host the Idaho State Bengals on Friday and UTEP on Sunday.
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