No. 52 Utah Men's Tennis Falls to Stanford, 4-3

Friday, March 28

Salt Lake City, Utah

1:30 PM

University of Utah

Stanford

No. 52 Utah Men's Tennis Falls to Stanford, 4-3

3/28/2014 12:00 AM | Men's Tennis

March 28, 2014

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY - The 52nd-ranked University of Utah men's tennis team (12-4, 0-1 Pac-12) was defeated in its first conference match of the season by the Stanford Cardinal (7-2, 1-0 Pac-12) Friday at Coach Mike's Tennis Academy by a score of 4-3. The Ute seniors stepped up their efforts despite the loss and captured Utah's three points in singles play.

"We let one slip away today," said assistant coach Roeland Brateanu. "We had our chances in doubles, but couldn't quite close things out. Stanford did a great job of carrying the momentum over into singles."

The Cardinal went up 2-0 early on in the match after capturing a doubles point and a victory at the No. 1 singles slot, where junior Slim Hamza was defeated by John Morrissey, 6-1, 6-4.

Senior Alejandro Medinilla then netted Utah's first point with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 3 position over Daniel Ho. The score then became 3-1 in favor of Stanford when junior Cedric Willems suffered a 6-4, 7-6(5) loss to Trey Strobel at the fourth spot.

The Utes then closed in on the Cardinal when senior Devin Lane topped Anthony Tsodikov at the No. 5 slot, 7-6(5), 7-5, to make the score 3-2. But Stanford then clinched the match at the No. 6 spot when Matt Cowley was bested by Robert Stineman, 7-5, 6-3.

With the match already decided in Stanford's favor at 4-2, senior Ben Tasevac narrowly escaped his match at the No. 2 position with an upset over 55th-ranked Maciek Romanowicz. Tasevac easily nabbed the first set, 6-1, then handed Romanowicz the second set, 3-6. But Tasevac rallied in the third set and took it 6-4, making the final score 4-3.

The match's doubles action was very closely contended, as all three contests went into tie-breakers. Hamza and Willems managed an 8-7(6) victory at the top slot over Morrissey and Romanowicz.

Medinilla and Cowley were then unable to clinch their tie-break at the No. 3 position and fell to Jamin Ball and Strobel, 8-7(5). But Lane and Tasevac just couldn't clinch the doubles point from the second spot and were defeated by Ho and Stineman, 8-7(4).

No. 52 Utah returns to action Sunday at 11 a.m. MT to host the No. 16 California Golden Bears. The match is slated to be played at Coach Mike's Tennis Academy, weather permitting.

Stanford 4, Utah 3
Doubles
1. Hamza/Willems (UTAH) def. Morrissey/Romanowicz (STANFORD), 8-7(6)
2. Ho/Stineman (STANFORD) def. Lane/Tasevac (UTAH), 8-7(4)
3. Jamin Ball/Strobel (STANFORD) def. Medinilla/Cowley (UTAH), 8-7(5)
Order of Finish: 1,3,2*

Singles
1. John Morrissey (STANFORD) def. Slim Hamza (UTAH), 6-1, 6-4
2. Ben Tasevac (UTAH) def. #55 Maciek Romanowicz (STANFORD), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
3. Alejandro Medinilla (UTAH) def. Daniel Ho (STANFORD), 6-2, 6-4
4. Trey Strobel (STANFORD) def. Cedric Willems (UTAH), 6-4, 7-6(5)
5. Devin Lane (UTAH) def. Anthony Tsodikov (STANFORD), 7-6(5), 7-5
6. Robert Stineman (STANFORD) def. Matt Cowley (UTAH), 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1,3,4,5,6*,2