USU men to face UC Irvine in first round of Big West Tournament
It’s do-or-die time for the Utah State men’s tennis team when it travels to Danville, Calif., to play UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament Thursday at 9 a.m.
On the other hand, Thursday’s first-round match isn’t as do-or-die as it has been in the past, as the BWC decided to change its format from a single elimination to a play-out-the-bracket one – something USU Head Coach Chris Wright said he and the Big West coaches have been pushing for.
“It’s nice. You want to get the most out of the last stage of the season, so it’s good for everybody,” he said.
However, this does not mean Wright and the Aggies aren’t looking at the UCI match as a do-or-die-type match. USU (No. 6 seed) fully expects to be able to compete with the No. 3 seed Anteaters, Wright said.
“We’re not intimidated,” he said. “I think the guys are excited about playing Irvine. I like the matchup.”
A matchup that will be one of USU’s most challenging of the season, nonetheless, against an Irvine team that has been ranked among the nation’s top 75 most of the season.
When the Aggies (7-12) take the court against the Anteaters (11-9), they will face a team that has arguably played the toughest schedule in the Big West this season. Among UCI’s nine losses were matches to No. 1 UCLA, No. 7 Stanford and No. 24 Pepperdine.
UCI has also beaten four teams Utah State lost to this year, including a 4-3 victory over BYU on Jan. 24, albeit all four matches were at home. In fact, 14 of UCI’s 20 matches this season were home matches.
While the two schools have played similar opponents, they haven’t played each other in several years – something Aggie freshman Andrew Marsh said he feels is
advantageous.
“I just want to go out there and play,” he said. “It’s good to not really know a lot about them, so we can just go out there and play the ball, and not worry about our opponents.”
In additional to feeling his team has nothing to lose, Wright said playing on a neutral court and playing in a tournament setting is also to the Aggies’ advantage.
“Weird things happen in tournaments,” he said. “We all sit around and watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament, because it’s unpredictable. And it’s going to be no different [Thursday]. We should have a chance to win this match.”
Unlike the majority of the season, the Aggies will also have a full squad against the Anteaters, as No. 1 singles player Hannes Schenk will most likely play, Wright said. Schenk was unable to play in USU’s two previous matches after pulling a muscle in his back April 11 against Northern Arizona.
Having Schenk back is a big relief not only competition-wise, Marsh said, but a relief mentally as well.
“It would be a huge advantage,” he said. “When you’re out there and you’re missing a guy or two, you think about what could [have been] if you had a full team.”
The winner of Thursday’s match will play either UC Santa Barbara (No. 2 seed) or UC Riverside (No. 7 seed), while the losing team will play the other losing team. Both matches will be held Friday.
Utah State did not play either the Gauchos or Highlanders this season, while UC Irvine beat UCR, 7-0 Feb. 2, and fell to UCSB, 5-2 March 8.
-jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu