Men’s tennis shows strong during USU Invitational
Utah State men’s tennis hosted its invitational of the year this weekend, where players competed against Northern Arizona and Idaho State, Weber State and Portland State.
“It was a strong field,” said head coach Christian Wright. “NAU is a pretty tough team, as is Portland State. We had ups and downs over the weekend, and there is a large talent pool here.”
Utah State men’s tennis completed the first day of competition on Thursday successfully, advancing four doubles teams and three singles players.
“The boys all play well together and get along really well,” said Wright. “They have all bonded really well, and all have great work ethic.”
Freshman Fredrik Peterson was the first to advance, and seniors Bryan Marchant and Nikita Ryashchenko advanced as well to the dingles draw of 16. Peterson started out with a bye in the first round, and then continued through the round of 16 with a victory over Jaeden Harris, unattached, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (14-12).
Marchant received a bye in the first round and went on to defeat Portland State’s Zach Lubek, 6-1, 6-1, in the round of 16. Ryashchenko defeated Idaho State’s Dakota Pate – who forfeited – after receiving a bye in the first round.
On the second day of fall action, Bryan Marchant advanced the furthest of the Aggies in the singles draw. Marchant beat Weber State’s Ben Rode, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2, in the round of 16. However, he fell in the round of eight to Weber’s Landon Barlow, 6-2, 7-5.
“Bryan fought really hard, and came back from a big deficit. That showed a lot of class and determination in him,” Wright said.
Sven Poslusny and Alex Thatcher were the only Aggies to continue action in the singles consolation rounds, advancing to the semifinals. Poslusny defeated Portland State’s Vetu Mam, 6-3, 6-1, and unattached Miguel Fernandez, 6-1, 6-2, in the rounds of 16 and 8. Thatcher went on to defeat Lenny Whiting, his fellow teammate, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 16. Thatcher was also able to defeat Weber’s Dave Hintze, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 8.
Utah State had two doubles pairs in action on Friday. In the round of 16, Poslusny and Fredrik Peterson defeated their own teammates Nate Ballam and Thatcher, 9-8 (7-4). The pair then lost to Portland State’s Rice and Margoulis, 8-6, in the round of eight. Marchant and Jakob Asplund defeated teammate Whiting and former Aggie Matt Braithwaite, 8-2, in the round of 16 before defeating Portland State’s Alex Vanderschelde and Mitch Somach, 8-3 in the round of 8.
Poslusny (who is now 5-1 on the season) ended up taking the cake for the weekend, claiming the consolation singles title.
USU continued to dominate the consolation singles draw with their final day of play on Saturday. Alex Thatcher advanced to the finals after defeating Andrew Whiting, 6-2, 6-3, in the semifinal round. Northern Arizona’s Dominic Bermudez withdrew, causing Poslusny to advance to the final round. Poslusny defeated Thatcher in the finals, 6-3, 7-6, to take first place in the consolation singles draw.
Utah State seniors Jakob Asplund and Bryan Marchant advanced to the semifinals in doubles competition. Asplund and Marchant fell to Weber State’s Simon Unger and Matt Davis, 9-8.
“We definitely are not where we need to be,” Wright said, “but we have a few more tournaments this fall, and we will start right back up in January. I’m glad we are not peaking now, and we have a lot of work to do.”
Fitness, according to Wright, is what the team will work on most.
“They run in the morning and do weight training to keep themselves in shape.”
Singles is another area in which Wright wishes to improve.
“We tend to go for too much too early, and will work on patience,” he said.
And Wright’s paramount goal for 2010-2011 tennis?
“We want to be in an area where we can challenge for a WAC title.”
– kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu