The Rolex Region VII Tournament gave the Utah men’s tennis team a chance to show off its talents. After the two days of competition, the Utes had a good showing, upsetting several high-ranking players.
In the third round, U freshman Daniel Lohff upset Mark Roberts of Boise State, ranked No. 2 in the tournament, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5. Later, Lohff downed Edward Brisbois of Idaho, 6-3, 7-5.
“He went down there with the right attitude,” Ute coach F.D. Robbins said. “He competed well. He served well. He ended up doing the best of anyone on the team as a freshman.”
Senior Corrie Scheepers pulled off another enormous upset, defeating 11th-ranked Eric Pittman of the Air Force Academy, 6-2, 6-4. However, Scheepers was later beaten by Thomas Schneiter of UNLV, 4 6, 6-0, 6-1.
“Corrie just played a real solid match. He was determined he wasn’t going to lose to [Pittman] again,” Robbins said. Scheepers had a match last year against Pittman that Pittman won. Scheepers was looking for revenge.
Meanwhile, Utah’s Dave Mercier fell to Denver’s Jay Patel, 6-3, 6-2, and Nicholas Yip was beaten by BYU’s Carlos Lozano.
Utah took second place in the second round of doubles competition. Mercier and Yip downed San Diego State’s Coren and Hasson 8-5, and Daniel Carlsson and Tyler Poulson knocked off San Diego State’s Naffa and Coohlo 8-5 as well.
Lohff and Scheepers lost to Bouvier and Silva of Boise State, 8-5.
Robbins has good hopes for the upcoming year. “I think we’re going to have a great year,” he said. “If we keep everybody healthy and get everyone going, we’re going to be pretty good.”
The fall matches are used to view players’ talent and to see how Robbins will put the lineup together for Mountain West Competition, beginning at the end of January.
“Obviously, our goal is to win the Mountain West Conference,” he said.
The fall schedule is basically individual tournaments and player-improvement time.
Beginning in January, Robbins and the team prepare for the dual matches. The fall is known as an official preseason for the regular season starting in the winter.
“Everybody gets a feel for how your team is going to do, but this is kind of a work period,” Robbins said.
Robbins is uncertain how his team will look this winter because of the flexibility his team has shown in early play.
“We’re not real sure who is going to play where in the lineup, but it’s good to have the depth,” he said.