The U men’s tennis team’s record fell to 5-4 yesterday after losing their second road meet in a row, this one to the No. 6 Stanford Cardinal (6-2) by a score of 7-0. The Utes were overmatched in every aspect, losing each match by a large margin.
Miron Mann was the only Ute to win five games in a set at the No. 2 spot. Adding insult to injury was the fact that Stanford’s best player didn’t even suit up.
The Utes were only slightly more successful on Tuesday when they suffered a 5-2 loss at the hands of the San Francisco Dons (5-5).
The only two Utes to win a singles match were freshmen Nick Coutts, and senior Roeland Brateanu.
Today, things won’t get any easier for the Utes as they travel to Berkeley to face the No. 20 Cal Bears. Although the Bears have a dismal 1-4 record, they have yet to face an unranked opponent. They will get their first opportunity in such a meet today, and should handle the Utes with ease as they have in the past. The series record is 25-6-1 in favor of Cal.
The Utes are currently 1-2 on their current road trip. They managed their only victory against Saint Mary’s by a count of 5-2 to start their road trip.
The Utes began the match in strong fashion, winning all three doubles matches for the first point. Then the top two players, Brateanu and Tomasz Gryzb used that momentum and defeated their opponents easily.
Coutts and Dantley Young were also victorious in their singles matches, despite some early struggles.
Matt Ouellette