Men netters primed to take season series against Bengals
Rivalry bragging rights are on the line when the Utah State men’s tennis team battles long-time nemesis Idaho State on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Sports Academy in North Logan.
However, playing ISU certainly isn’t the only motivating factor the Aggies (7-11) will have on their side come Wednesday.
Wednesday’s match will also be USU’s last of the home season, and its last one before the Big West Conference Tournament – not to mention the chance to win its second straight season series from the Bengals (7-10).
“They hate to lose to us; we hate to lose to them,” said USU Head Coach Chris Wright. “It’s going to be a battle.”
A battle that pits two teams with their fair share of momentum, as the Aggies have won three of their last four, and the Bengals, four of their last five.
USU will be looking to avenge a 5-2 loss to ISU on Feb. 15 in Pocatello, Idaho, while the Bengals will be looking for the same after dropping a 6-1 decision to the Aggies, Feb. 15 in Las Vegas.
“We don’t want to have a loss going into conference,” Wright said. “It will be a good test, because [ISU] should be able to challenge for the Big Sky [Conference Championship].”
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the challenge might be even greater, thanks to the pulled back muscle of No. 1 singles player Hannes Schenk. Schenk came up gimpy in last Friday’s match against Northern Arizona.
Although he has been receiving treatment on the back before and after practice ever since, Wright said the possibility of Schenk aggravating the injury before the BWC tourney makes his status unlikely for the ISU match.
If Schenk is unable to play, Jason Trask – victorious in his last five singles matches – will most likely have the unenviable task of playing ISU standout Malcolm Swan.
Swan sports a 12-4 singles record in team competition this year and is 22-6 overall and is considered by Wright to be one of the best players in USU’s region.
On the other hand, Trask played Swan extremely close when they played in Pocatello, falling, 6-4, 7-6, and even had Swan “kind of doubting himself on a few shots,” Wright said.
While a Swan/Trask matchup is an intriguing possibility, Aggie freshman Andrew Marsh was quick to say most the individual matchups between the two teams are good ones.
“There’s always some good matchups when we play these guys, and it will be fun to have them come down here,” he said.
Trask is leading the Aggies with a 9-8 singles record this spring while Marsh is a close second with an 8-8 record, while Ryan Bair has the best winning percentage at 7-5.
The duo of Trask and Brandon Butler has the best doubles record at 9-7.
Regardless of the matchups, whoever wins the doubles point usually wins the match when these two teams play – seven in a row to be exact.
Playing solid doubles is something both Marsh and Wright said Utah State has really improved on as of late.
The Aggies have won the doubles point in their last four matches, and have been able to do so thanks to a higher first-service percentage and better footwork, Marsh said.
This season the Aggies are 7-2 when the have won the doubles point. They have lost to both Weber State and Northern Arizona, also Big Sky teams, after earning the doubles point.
Following their match against the Bengals, the Aggies will prepare for the Big West tourney. USU could play as early as Wednesday, April 23.
-jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu