SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah men's tennis team will be back in action this week for a home match against in-state rival, Brigham Young University (12-2). The match will be held at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center, with both teams competing for the title of the Deseret Duel. The Utes head into this week being ranked the No. 37
th team in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, boasting a record of 16-2 on the season.
Match Information vs. BYU
Date: Saturday, March 24th
Time: 2:00 p.m. MST
Live Stream: http://utahutes.com/sports/2018/2/16/tennis-video-streaming.aspx
Results: http://utahutes.com/index.aspx?path=mten
Last season, the Utes were able to come away with a 4-2 win at BYU. In that match against the Cougars, the Utes were able to go up early by taking the doubles point. Victories included,
Dan Little and
Joe Woolley defeating Jacob Sullivan and John Pearce, 6-3 at the No. 1 position, and
Slava Shainyan and
Santiago Sierra defeating Keaton Cullimore and Sam Tullis, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot. In singles action, Little was dominant Jeremy Bourgeois 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 2 position. Competing at the No. 1 spot,
David Micevski cruised to a victory over Keaton Cullimore, 6-4, 7-5.
Joe Woolley then finished things off for the night for the Utes at the No. 5 position, defeating John Pearce 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, to give the Utah men's tennis team the 4-2 victory.
Utah Notes
The Utah men's tennis team had their last match on March 9
th, coming away with a 4-3 win over UNLV. The Utes were down early as they lost the doubles point to UNLV.
Dan Little and
Azat Hankuliyev were the only pair able to record a victory, defeating Richard Solberg and Jordan Saur on the No. 3 court with a score of 6-2. In singles, the Utes were able to rally back, starting with a win at the No. 5 spot by
Joe Woolley, as he defeated Richard Solberg with a score of 6-4, 6-4. Little then put in a win of his own at the No. 2 position, topping UNLV's Ruben Alberts with a score of 6-3, 6-2. A win from
Santiago Sierra followed on Court 6, defeating Clayton Alenik 6-4, 6-1, to give the Utes the 3-2 advantage.
Egbert Weverink was then able to seal the victory for the Utah men's tennis team at the No. 3 spot, beating out Courtney Lock with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Opponent Notes
BYU men's tennis topped SMU 4-1 in the back draw of the BNP Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle Saturday morning at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. BYU bounced back after a tough loss to Tulsa to earn a win against SMU. The Cougars won the first doubles match in the No. 1 slot. Duo Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu continued their winning streak with a 6-2 win over Tomas Vaise and Jan-Simon Vrbsky. The Mustangs fought back in No. 2 and No. 3 doubles and ultimately claimed the doubles point. Charles Nettlefold and Roberto Rosales defeated Sam Tullis and David Ball 6-2, while Eladio Fabregas and Gardiner Perotti earned a 7-5 win over John Pearce and Ben Gajardo. Moving into singles play down 1-0, BYU went on to win four-straight lines of singles to come out victorious over SMU. Tullis defeated Michael Smith 6-3, 6-2 in No. 4 singles, while Hsu ousted Vaise 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 2 slot. The Cougar momentum continued with Ball claiming a big 6-3, 6-4 win over Fabregas. Gajardo solidified the 4-1 BYU win with a 7-5, 6-2 victory in No. 5 singles against Rosales. Gajardo is 13-0 in singles play this season.