USU men’s tennis tops No. 66 UTSA
The Utah State men’s tennis team got its first win over a ranked opponent as it split a pair of weekend matches.
On Saturday, Utah State fell to No. 2 Oklahoma 7-0 but rebounded with a 4-0 win Sunday against No. 66 Texas-San Antonio. The matches took place in Norman, Oklahoma in the Aggies’ first ever participation in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship Kick-Off Weekend.
Before Sunday’s win, USU had lost three straight matches, first to No. 35 Drake, next to No. 71 Iowa, and last to the Sooners.
“Anytime you lose three matches in a row, I think you get incredibly hungry,” said USU coach Clancy Shields after the UTSA match. “My expectation is every time we step on the court, we’re going to win.”
A win over Texas-San Antonio was a strong way to rebound for the Aggies. UTSA was Conference USA Champion last season and still holds an ITA rank higher than No. 70 Utah State.
“By no means are they a slouch team,” Shields said. “This is big for our program and it shows how far we’ve come as a group.”
After losing in straight sets to Oklahoma, junior Jack Swindells gave a strong performance on Sunday, winning both his singles and doubles matchup.
“I think I took care of the little things very well,” Swindells said. “I was a little bit more aggressive today than I was yesterday. I’m definitely playing with a lot more confidence.”
Shields was also impressed with Aggie freshman Jonas Maier, who won in straight sets against Texas-San Antonio.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Shields said. “Today he played really, really tough. He played a 14-12 tie breaker in the first set, and after he won that game he started cruising in his set. That was kind of the changing point in his match.”
The Aggies have an underclassman dominant team this season, with four freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors.
“It’s a young team, but overall we’re getting better,” Swindells said “They (UTSA) are a good team, and a lot of our guys haven’t had a big year in their college career, so I think that will give them a lot of confidence going forward.”
Shields was optimistic that the win will have a positive impact on the young team.
“We’re not even scratching the surface at how good we can be,” said Shields. “We have to grow, and it happens in stages. Everyone’s attitude has to be patience, but we have to really want this.”
The Aggies play again Sunday against Grand Canyon and Idaho State. Those two games serve as the open to a five-game homestand before Utah State goes back to work on the road at Texas Tech on Feb. 20.
“Every match that we play, we want to get better,” Shields said. “If we keep improving the way we are, we can be a team that is going to contend for the championship in April. We’re going to improve more than any other team in the country.”
Conference play starts on Mar. 19 for Utah State and the Mountain West tournament runs from Apr. 29 to May 1 in Las Vegas.
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