The University of Utah men’s tennis team continued its winning streak Saturday, beating Northern Arizona 6-0 and in-state foe Weber State 4-2.
Head coach Roeland Brateanu thinks the team got off to a shaky start, but finished strong in the end.
“Overall, I’m happy with the two wins,” Brateanu said. “I wasn’t quite satisfied with the way we played the first match, but I think we showed a lot better energy in the second match.”
Utah’s David Micecvski and Johan Jonhagen beat Northern Arizona’s Thomas Fisher and Eden Peleg 6-3 to give Utah the advantage in the doubles point. However, Tim Handel and Ruben Montano stunned Egbert Weverink and Santiago Sierra, 7-6 to draw the doubles point.
The crowd at Eccles gathered around court two to see which team would claim the doubles point. In the end, Jamey Swiggart and Matt Cowley pulled off the win against Felix Schumann and Lucas Taylor, 7-6, to earn the doubles point for the Utes.
It was all Utah the rest of the match. Jonhagen once again breezed through his match, defeating Jackson Lee 6-1, 6-0. With the win, Jonhagen is now 4-0 on the season in singles with one unfinished match.
Wevernick pushed the Utes lead to 3-0 after beating Montano 6-3, 6-3 to continue his undefeated record in singles matches this spring. Wevernick is now 4-1 on the year, with one unfinished match.
Swiggart sealed the match for Utah, defeating Schumann 6-4, 6-4.
With three matches left, Utah had already won the match, but both teams elected to finish the remaining one despite Utah having to play in a few hours later.
Sierra beat Northern Arizona’s Fisher 7-6, 6-2 improving his singles record this spring to a perfect 6-0. Cowley won his third match in a row, besting Handel 6-4, 7-5 to give the Utes a 6-0 lead. In the final match of the afternoon, David Micevski got his second win of the season, beating Fisher 7-6, 6-2.
Three hours later, Utah thrilled a loud crowd that packed the Eccles Center stands, beating the Weber State Wildcats 4-2 Friday evening to cap off the doubleheader.
Once again, the Utes cruised through the doubles point, as Weverink and Sierra beat Weber State’s Sanjay Goswami and Stefan Cooper 6-2. Cowley and Swiggart finished off the doubles point by beating Jakub Gewert and Todd Fought 6-3.
Sierra gave Utah a 2-0 lead after putting away Goswami, 6-0, 6-2. With the victory, Sierra is now a perfect 7-0 in singles this spring. Miceviski remained undefeated, beating Landon Barlow to push the Utes’ lead to 3-0.
In his first match back from injury, and his first match of the spring season, Parker McGuiness iced the victory for Utah, defeating Hou-En Chen 6-4, 6-1.
“It was great to have Parker [McGuiness] back,” said Brateanu. “He was our MVP last year and he’s a very hard worker. He’s a motivational leader for the guys and so it’s great to have him back, and you could tell that he’s going to be an important factor for us this year.”
Weber State got two points after the Utes went up 4-0, as Wildcat Stefan Cooper handed Jonhagen his first loss of the spring season, 3-6, 6-0, 4-6. Fought won WSU’s second point after he beat Weverink on court no. 2 7-6, 6-3. Cowley beat Gewert on default, after winning the first set 6-2. The second set was tied 5-5 when it was called.
Next up, the Utes will face Montana and Montana State on Feb. 6 at home.
@23ounces