Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus ITA All-American Championships on September 21, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs ITA All-American Championships
Saturday, February 29
Salt Lake City, UT
12:00 PM
University of Utah
4
vs
3
Loyola Marymount
Photo by: Steve Kinslow
Men's Tennis Defeats LMU and NAU to Remain Perfect at Home
2/29/2020 7:40 PM | Men's Tennis
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah men's tennis team picked up another pair of home wins on Saturday after defeating Loyola Marymount 4-3 in a nail-biter, followed by a 6-1 win against Northern Arizona to close out the weekend. The Utes continued the stellar home play and are now a perfect 12-0 at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center this season. Utah moves to 12-4 overall following Saturday's doubleheader.
"I'm happy to get two wins, but we are super tired after a long day of play," said head coach Roeland Brateanu. "Loyola Marymount is a good team. We knew that going into it and it was a match that felt like we had basically lost, but had to come back and win. Franco was unbelievable. He stuck with it and competed super well. He overcame some injuries and there he was, battling it out to close out the match against LMU."
Brateanu continued, "I am proud of the team for their effort and then mentally to get ready for NAU about an hour later, I think that's one of the toughest performances that I have ever seen from a team. I'm looking forward to healing our bodies in the next couple days and then beginning to prepare for the big home match against BYU next week."
Utah 4, LMU 3
The Utes took the early advantage during doubles competition against Loyola Marymount for a doubles point that would be extremely important to the match. The No. 54-ranked duo of Randy Cory and Russell Benkaim picked up their 10th-straight win after defeating Thien Nguyen and Keenan Mayo on court No. 1, 6-4. Loyola Marymount then evened things up with a win at the No. 2 position, but Wally Thayne and Mathias Gavelin battled through a close match to clinch the doubles point at the No. 3 spot, topping Ryan Brown and Austin Di Guilio in a competitive 7-6 win.
Slava Shainyan quickly moved past his opponent and posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Lucas Moreno on court No. 3 to put Utah up 2-0. After a loss at the No. 2 position for the Utes trimmed the lead momentarily, Gavelin beat out Thien Nguyen 7-6, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot to move the match score to 3-1 over LMU.
The Ute lead was halted when Loyola Marymount claimed singles wins on courts four and six to even the score up at 3-3. With the winning point coming down to the No. 1 position, Franco Capalbo faced off with Keenan Mayo where the Ute freshman dropped the first set 6-7. Capalbo rallied back to win the second set 6-4 to force a third set. In the third, Capalbo fell behind 1-4 early in the match and had the home court win-streak look to be in jeopardy. Capalbo turned the tides and went on to win the next five-consecutive games to come back and finish the match with a 6-4 third-set victory to give the Utes a 4-3 win over LMU and remain undefeated at the Eccles Tennis Center.
Utah 6, NAU 1
Turning thei attention to Northern Arizona after the grueling match earlier in the day, the Utes were yet again able to earn the doubles point to open the match. Azat Hankuliyev and Shainyan carded the first Ute victory after beating out Alex Groves and David Nguyen with a score of 6-3. Cory and Bekaim then sealed the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Eban Straker-Meads and Facundo Tumosa to take the 1-0 advantage going into singles.
The Utes recorded quick wins on courts No. 3 and No. 4 by Shainyan and Gavelin, followed by the clinching point from Benkaim on court No. 2 to set the Utes at 4-0. Playing out the remaining matches, Utah then added two more straight-set wins from Capalbo and Hankuliyev for the fifth and sixth points in the dual. Thayne rallied back in his second set after dropping the first, but couldn't get the match-win against Daniel Dillion, who earned NAU's sole point of the match.
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week to host in-state rival Brigham Young at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. The Utes will take on the Cougars on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. MT.
LMU 4, Utah 3
Doubles (1,2,3)
#54 Cory/Benkaim (UU) def. Nguyen/Mayo (LMU), 6-4
Nava/Moreno (LMU) def. Hankuliyev/Shainyan (UU), 6-4
Thayne/Gavelin (UU) def. Brown/Di Guilio (LMU), 7-6
Singles (3,2,5,6,4,1)
Franco Capalbo (UU) def. Keenan Mayo (LMU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Diego Nava (LMU) def. Russell Benkaim (UU), 6-3, 6-2
Slava Shainyan (UU) def. Lucas Moreno (LMU), 6-0, 6-2
Austin Di Giulio (LMU) def. Randy Cory (UU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Mathias Gavelin (UU) def. Thien Nguyen (LMU), 7-6, 6-0
Max Kaiser (LMU) def. Wally Thayne (UU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Utah 6, NAU 1
Doubles (2,1)
#54 Cory/Benkaim (UU) def. Straker-Meads/Tumosa (NAU), 6-3
Hankuliyev/Shainyan (UU) def. Groves/Nguyen (NAU), 6-1
Gavelin/Thayne (UU) vs. Steele/Dillon (NAU), 4-3, unf.
Singles (3,4,2,6,1,5)
Franco Capalbo (UU) def. Eban Straker-Meads (NAU), 6-2, 6-3
Russell Benkaim (UU) def. Facundo Tumosa (NAU), 6-3, 7-5
Slava Shainyan (UU) def. Alex Groves (NAU), 6-2, 6-4
Mathias Gavelin (UU) def. Chris Steele (NAU), 6-1, 6-3
Daniel Dillon (NAU) def. Wally Thayne (UU), 3-6, 6-2, 10-5
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. David Nguyen (NAU), 6-4, 6-2
"I'm happy to get two wins, but we are super tired after a long day of play," said head coach Roeland Brateanu. "Loyola Marymount is a good team. We knew that going into it and it was a match that felt like we had basically lost, but had to come back and win. Franco was unbelievable. He stuck with it and competed super well. He overcame some injuries and there he was, battling it out to close out the match against LMU."
Brateanu continued, "I am proud of the team for their effort and then mentally to get ready for NAU about an hour later, I think that's one of the toughest performances that I have ever seen from a team. I'm looking forward to healing our bodies in the next couple days and then beginning to prepare for the big home match against BYU next week."
Utah 4, LMU 3
The Utes took the early advantage during doubles competition against Loyola Marymount for a doubles point that would be extremely important to the match. The No. 54-ranked duo of Randy Cory and Russell Benkaim picked up their 10th-straight win after defeating Thien Nguyen and Keenan Mayo on court No. 1, 6-4. Loyola Marymount then evened things up with a win at the No. 2 position, but Wally Thayne and Mathias Gavelin battled through a close match to clinch the doubles point at the No. 3 spot, topping Ryan Brown and Austin Di Guilio in a competitive 7-6 win.
Slava Shainyan quickly moved past his opponent and posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Lucas Moreno on court No. 3 to put Utah up 2-0. After a loss at the No. 2 position for the Utes trimmed the lead momentarily, Gavelin beat out Thien Nguyen 7-6, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot to move the match score to 3-1 over LMU.
The Ute lead was halted when Loyola Marymount claimed singles wins on courts four and six to even the score up at 3-3. With the winning point coming down to the No. 1 position, Franco Capalbo faced off with Keenan Mayo where the Ute freshman dropped the first set 6-7. Capalbo rallied back to win the second set 6-4 to force a third set. In the third, Capalbo fell behind 1-4 early in the match and had the home court win-streak look to be in jeopardy. Capalbo turned the tides and went on to win the next five-consecutive games to come back and finish the match with a 6-4 third-set victory to give the Utes a 4-3 win over LMU and remain undefeated at the Eccles Tennis Center.
Utah 6, NAU 1
Turning thei attention to Northern Arizona after the grueling match earlier in the day, the Utes were yet again able to earn the doubles point to open the match. Azat Hankuliyev and Shainyan carded the first Ute victory after beating out Alex Groves and David Nguyen with a score of 6-3. Cory and Bekaim then sealed the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Eban Straker-Meads and Facundo Tumosa to take the 1-0 advantage going into singles.
The Utes recorded quick wins on courts No. 3 and No. 4 by Shainyan and Gavelin, followed by the clinching point from Benkaim on court No. 2 to set the Utes at 4-0. Playing out the remaining matches, Utah then added two more straight-set wins from Capalbo and Hankuliyev for the fifth and sixth points in the dual. Thayne rallied back in his second set after dropping the first, but couldn't get the match-win against Daniel Dillion, who earned NAU's sole point of the match.
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week to host in-state rival Brigham Young at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. The Utes will take on the Cougars on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. MT.
LMU 4, Utah 3
Doubles (1,2,3)
#54 Cory/Benkaim (UU) def. Nguyen/Mayo (LMU), 6-4
Nava/Moreno (LMU) def. Hankuliyev/Shainyan (UU), 6-4
Thayne/Gavelin (UU) def. Brown/Di Guilio (LMU), 7-6
Singles (3,2,5,6,4,1)
Franco Capalbo (UU) def. Keenan Mayo (LMU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Diego Nava (LMU) def. Russell Benkaim (UU), 6-3, 6-2
Slava Shainyan (UU) def. Lucas Moreno (LMU), 6-0, 6-2
Austin Di Giulio (LMU) def. Randy Cory (UU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Mathias Gavelin (UU) def. Thien Nguyen (LMU), 7-6, 6-0
Max Kaiser (LMU) def. Wally Thayne (UU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Utah 6, NAU 1
Doubles (2,1)
#54 Cory/Benkaim (UU) def. Straker-Meads/Tumosa (NAU), 6-3
Hankuliyev/Shainyan (UU) def. Groves/Nguyen (NAU), 6-1
Gavelin/Thayne (UU) vs. Steele/Dillon (NAU), 4-3, unf.
Singles (3,4,2,6,1,5)
Franco Capalbo (UU) def. Eban Straker-Meads (NAU), 6-2, 6-3
Russell Benkaim (UU) def. Facundo Tumosa (NAU), 6-3, 7-5
Slava Shainyan (UU) def. Alex Groves (NAU), 6-2, 6-4
Mathias Gavelin (UU) def. Chris Steele (NAU), 6-1, 6-3
Daniel Dillon (NAU) def. Wally Thayne (UU), 3-6, 6-2, 10-5
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. David Nguyen (NAU), 6-4, 6-2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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