Not having played in the state since January, the U men’s tennis team comes home with a .500 record at 5 5.
The team played its last eight matches on the road and won three of them. The Utes beat Northern Arizona, St. Mary’s College and New Mexico State. Northern Arizona and New Mexico State are teams in the U’s region. U assistant coach Graeme Cox called them very big wins.
Their losses came at the hands of top teams, including No. 1 Stanford, 6-1 Monday afternoon. They also dropped matches to Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, and Cal Berkeley on Tuesday, by a 7-0 score.
Cox noted the U competed very well against all these teams
Senior Corrie Scheepers got the U’s only win against Stanford, defeating Ryan Haviland 7-5, 6-3. Haviland was No. 35 in the country. That’s the only U point in the last two matches.
“That was a great win for Corrie,” Cox said. “He played really well and set the tone for how we want our guys to compete when we play big schools like that.”
Against Cal-Berkeley, David Mercier and Nik Yip defeated Cal-Berkeley’s top-rated doubles team, a fantastic victory for the U, especially considering Berkeley’s team had just beaten Stanford two nights before.
Now the Utes will stay home for three straight matches, against Portland, Robert Morris College and Denver, before the road calls them out again.
“It’s going to feel really good to be at home,” Cox said. “That was a killer road trip. It’s never easy to be away from home for that long. We’re looking for three wins.”
The matches against Robert Morris and Denver will be at the Sports Mall, located at 5445 S. 900 East, because the Eccles Tennis Center will be occupied by the Paralympics.