Tennis ends season with win over Weber
The Utah State men’s tennis team finished the regular season on a high note with their second win against Weber State, 5-2, on Thursday.
“We got out to a pretty good start winning the doubles point,” said Utah State Head Coach Chris Wright.
Hungsoon Park and Jason Trask led the way in doubles play at the No. 1 spot with an 8-5 win over their Wildcat opponents.
The duo of Hannes Schenk and Roshan Rasheki followed with a victory at the No. 2 doubles spot 9-7.
As is usually the case, Wright said, the momentum of doubles play carried over into their singles play.
“There were a couple of close matches but we came through and stuck it out,” Wright said. “We had some good effort.”
Park, Schenk and Trask all picked up straight-set victories in singles play.
At the No. 1 spot, Park defeated his WSU opponent 6-4, 6-2. Schenk, playing at the No. 2 position effectively ended his current slump with a win against WSU’s Zach Leveton.
Trask improved to 8-3 for the season at the No. 3 spot with a win against his opponent.
Tyler Bastian, playing at the No. 5 spot, was the last Aggie to pull out a win as he defeated his opponent in three sets.
Rasekhi and Lucas Bouton fought hard, but the competition proved to be too much for them as they both fell to a Wildcat.
“This [win] is something to build on,” Wright said.
He and his team are now looking back over the season and preparing for post-season play.
“Overall we worked hard,” Wright said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way, but I think it has been a good season.”
At the beginning of the season the men’s tennis team had a goal to be top in its conference and have a strong and productive season.
That is on their mind as the sixth-seeded Aggies head for Indian Wells, Calif. next week for the Big West Conference tournament. On Friday, April 23, they play third-seed Pacific at 5 p.m.
Wright said he is confident that his team can do well against the Tigers. However, the last time the Aggies faced the Tigers, on April 9 in Logan, the Ags came out on the losing side.
But Wright said the Aggies were close and were tough competition for the Tigers. He said he believes if they can make a few adjustments the Ags will easily come out with a win.
“They are definitely beatable,” he said. “We have the talent on our side to beat them.”
Wright also said he would like to thank all those who came out and supported the tennis teams throughout this season and he hopes to see more people cheering next season.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu