Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Utah Invitational on October 3, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs Utah Invitational
Saturday, February 29
Salt Lake City, UT
12:00 PM
University of Utah
vs
Loyola Marymount
Photo by: Jake Laramie
Utah Men's Tennis Set for Pair of Home Matches Saturday
2/27/2020 10:36 AM | Men's Tennis
Utes to welcome Loyola Marymount and Northern Arizona.
FIRST SERVE
The University of Utah men's tennis team will continue the stretch of home matches this week with a pair of matches on tap at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center this Saturday, Feb. 29. Utah will face Loyola Marymount in the first match of the day at 12 p.m. MT and then will square off against Northern Arizona at 5 p.m. MT to wrap up the final doubleheader of the season for the Utes. A stream for the matches can be found here.
Â
BREAKING INTO THE RANKINGS
Battling on the top doubles court for Utah, juniors Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory have found their stride as a pair and have won their last nine matches. After downing Denver's then-ranked No. 21 top duo, Benkaim and Cory broke into the ITA rankings and came in at No. 54 in the poll. Continuing to roll, the junior duo claimed an upset against the nation's No. 10 doubles team from Iowa last weekend to help Utah upset No. 23 Iowa. Benkaim and Cory hold a 10-3 record this season.
Â
BENKAIM BRINGING IT
After an undefeated weekend for Utah and individually, Russell Benkaim was named the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for his efforts in Utah's upset over then-ranked No. 23 Iowa and the 7-0 sweeps against region opponents Montana State and Southern Utah. The Bradenton, Fla. native went 3-0 in singles play and 2-0 in doubles over the three matches, while he was leading in his unfinished doubles match. The weekly award marked Utah's first selection of the season and is Benkaim's second of his career.
Â
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Utah men's tennis has found tremendous success this season in home matches and have jumped out to a 10-0 record at home. The Utes have picked up eight wins against region opponents, while also claiming big wins against Iowa and East Tennessee State. Including the 10 wins this season, Utah holds a 61-16 (.792) record at the Eccles Tennis Center since the beginning of the 2015 season.
Â
SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Loyola Marymount men's tennis team comes into the match against Utah with a record of 3-4 and are 2-1 so far in West Coast Conference action. LMU has claimed wins against San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Diego State. The Lions are led by junior Diego Nova, who has played in the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles for LMU. Sophomore Keenan Mayo has also spent time this season in LMU's top singles spot. Utah and Loyola Marymount last met in a dual match in the spring season of 2017. Freshmen at the time of the match, Slava Shainyan contributed a singles win, while Shainyan and Azat Hankuliyev teamed up for a doubles win in the 5-2 team victory over the Lions.
Â
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
Northern Arizona has recorded an overall record of 4-6 with wins including UC Riverside and Grand Canyon. NAU is coming off a tight 4-3 loss to open Big Sky play against Portland State and will play Utah State Friday before traveling to Salt Lake City on Saturday. The Lumberjacks are led by junior Eban Straker-Meads. Straker-Meads is 4-3 in the top singles position for NAU. A transfer from Auburn University at Montgomery, Straker-Meads was the ITA Rookie of the Year for the NCAA Division 2 South Region during his time at his previous school. The Utes faced NAU twice in the 2019 season in a doubleheader and came away with 6-1 and 5-2 wins.
Â
LAST TIME OUT
The Utes are coming off a big weekend at home, going 3-0 to get back on track. Utah faced a tough task in then-ranked No. 23 Iowa last Friday to open the weekend. Doubles indicated early that the entire match would be a battle. Azat Hankuliyev and Slava Shainyan picked up the first doubles win for Utah in the 7-6 match, but Iowa then took court two to tie doubles at 1-1. No. 54-ranked Randy Cory and Russell Benkaim rallied and downed the nation's No. 10 duo to earn the doubles point.
Â
In singles, Cory quickly put Utah up 2-0 with a straight-set victory on court five. Benkaim then pulled out a three-set win in the No. 2 position to extend the lead, but back-to-back singles wins from Iowa cut the Ute lead to just 3-2. After dropping a hard-fought second set, Shainyan worked through his third set to win 6-2 and clinch the upset for Utah.
Â
On Saturday, the Utes had to quickly move on from the emotional victory on Friday and get prepped for a doubleheader. Utah rolled past region opponents Montana State and Southern Utah for 7-0 sweeps to complete the weekend.
Â
UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week when the Utes take on in-state rival Brigham Young. The Utes will matchup with the Cougars on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. MT.
Â
The University of Utah men's tennis team will continue the stretch of home matches this week with a pair of matches on tap at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center this Saturday, Feb. 29. Utah will face Loyola Marymount in the first match of the day at 12 p.m. MT and then will square off against Northern Arizona at 5 p.m. MT to wrap up the final doubleheader of the season for the Utes. A stream for the matches can be found here.
Â
BREAKING INTO THE RANKINGS
Battling on the top doubles court for Utah, juniors Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory have found their stride as a pair and have won their last nine matches. After downing Denver's then-ranked No. 21 top duo, Benkaim and Cory broke into the ITA rankings and came in at No. 54 in the poll. Continuing to roll, the junior duo claimed an upset against the nation's No. 10 doubles team from Iowa last weekend to help Utah upset No. 23 Iowa. Benkaim and Cory hold a 10-3 record this season.
Â
BENKAIM BRINGING IT
After an undefeated weekend for Utah and individually, Russell Benkaim was named the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for his efforts in Utah's upset over then-ranked No. 23 Iowa and the 7-0 sweeps against region opponents Montana State and Southern Utah. The Bradenton, Fla. native went 3-0 in singles play and 2-0 in doubles over the three matches, while he was leading in his unfinished doubles match. The weekly award marked Utah's first selection of the season and is Benkaim's second of his career.
Â
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Utah men's tennis has found tremendous success this season in home matches and have jumped out to a 10-0 record at home. The Utes have picked up eight wins against region opponents, while also claiming big wins against Iowa and East Tennessee State. Including the 10 wins this season, Utah holds a 61-16 (.792) record at the Eccles Tennis Center since the beginning of the 2015 season.
Â
SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Loyola Marymount men's tennis team comes into the match against Utah with a record of 3-4 and are 2-1 so far in West Coast Conference action. LMU has claimed wins against San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Diego State. The Lions are led by junior Diego Nova, who has played in the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles for LMU. Sophomore Keenan Mayo has also spent time this season in LMU's top singles spot. Utah and Loyola Marymount last met in a dual match in the spring season of 2017. Freshmen at the time of the match, Slava Shainyan contributed a singles win, while Shainyan and Azat Hankuliyev teamed up for a doubles win in the 5-2 team victory over the Lions.
Â
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
Northern Arizona has recorded an overall record of 4-6 with wins including UC Riverside and Grand Canyon. NAU is coming off a tight 4-3 loss to open Big Sky play against Portland State and will play Utah State Friday before traveling to Salt Lake City on Saturday. The Lumberjacks are led by junior Eban Straker-Meads. Straker-Meads is 4-3 in the top singles position for NAU. A transfer from Auburn University at Montgomery, Straker-Meads was the ITA Rookie of the Year for the NCAA Division 2 South Region during his time at his previous school. The Utes faced NAU twice in the 2019 season in a doubleheader and came away with 6-1 and 5-2 wins.
Â
LAST TIME OUT
The Utes are coming off a big weekend at home, going 3-0 to get back on track. Utah faced a tough task in then-ranked No. 23 Iowa last Friday to open the weekend. Doubles indicated early that the entire match would be a battle. Azat Hankuliyev and Slava Shainyan picked up the first doubles win for Utah in the 7-6 match, but Iowa then took court two to tie doubles at 1-1. No. 54-ranked Randy Cory and Russell Benkaim rallied and downed the nation's No. 10 duo to earn the doubles point.
Â
In singles, Cory quickly put Utah up 2-0 with a straight-set victory on court five. Benkaim then pulled out a three-set win in the No. 2 position to extend the lead, but back-to-back singles wins from Iowa cut the Ute lead to just 3-2. After dropping a hard-fought second set, Shainyan worked through his third set to win 6-2 and clinch the upset for Utah.
Â
On Saturday, the Utes had to quickly move on from the emotional victory on Friday and get prepped for a doubleheader. Utah rolled past region opponents Montana State and Southern Utah for 7-0 sweeps to complete the weekend.
Â
UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week when the Utes take on in-state rival Brigham Young. The Utes will matchup with the Cougars on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. MT.
Â
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Utah Men's Tennis 2025-26 Pronunciations
Wednesday, September 10
Role models. Trailblazers. Legends. Celebrating our #AAPI student-athletes this month and always.
Monday, May 20
2019 Men's Tennis NCAA Tournament Press Conference
Tuesday, May 14
Utah Takes on #1 USC Friday, April 6
Wednesday, June 01