Tennis teams win in Portland
The USU men’s and women’s tennis squads both picked up wins Saturday in Portland, Ore., defeating Linfield and Eastern Washington University, respectively.
The Aggie women improved to 4-3 with their 7-0 victory over the Eagles, including winning all three doubles matches, soundly taking the doubles point. Carolyn Stephens and Lindsey Bennion defeated Kasy Knox and Sayaka Yoshimoto 8-4 to lead at the No. 1 spot, while No. 2 went to Courtney Anderson and Andrea Barker with their 8-2 victory. Jill Smith and Lauren Monson won the No. 3 spot 8-4.
“I thought we did a good job going out there and being aggressive,” Utah State head coach Christian Wright said. “We did a good job dictating the tempo, so we didn’t let them build any confidence.”
Bennion got to No. 1 again in singles action, beating Knox 6-1, 6-0, and was followed down the ranks by her teammates, who all won their matches – Smith coming in at two, Anderson at three, Barker at four, Monson at five and Erin Manning at the six spot.
Wright said Eastern Washington wasn’t the only challenge the Aggies were faced with.
“It’s a substantial drop in elevation, which makes the ball drop differently, hit differently,” he said. “I thought they did a good job handling that the second day.”
The Aggie men defeated Linfield 5-2, due in part to the fierce play of doubles unit Joao Pinho and Roshan Rasekhi, who played for four match points before beating Tim Layman and Jack Flemming 9-8. Mike Banks and Jonas Tyden grabbed the third spot in doubles competition, playing seven match points before winning 9-8.
In men’s singles, USU’s Hannes Schenk defeated Erik Janssen 6-1, 6-2 to claim the second spot, and was followed at three by Rasekhi who beat Brian Mullin 6-3, 6-2.
The win improved the Aggies’ overall record to 5-9 this spring.
The USU women will face UNLV Thursday on the road in their first outdoor meet of the year, while the Aggie men play again March 15 at BYU-Hawaii.
“It’s good experience to play outside,” Wright said. “The conference tournament will be played in Southern California, and UNLV is a good team, so we’re hoping to go get tested and gain some good experience.”
-jenbeasley@cc.usu.edu