Women’s tennis struggles
The U women’s tennis team (5 12) headed to Las Vegas last weekend for showdowns against MWC conference foes UNLV and San Diego State. Both the Aztecs and the Rebels are ranked in the top 60 in the nation, and both lived up to their national rankings with resounding 7-0 victories against the hapless Utes.
As a team, the Utes have lost their last nine meets, and have failed to win even one match in six of them. In fact, the Utes have won only six matches out of their last 61. After starting the season with a relatively healthy 5-3 record, the Utes have fallen apart of late.
In trying to explain her team’s recent struggles, head coach Megan Dorny was quick to point out the key injuries sustained by the Utes earlier in the year.
Freshman singles player Ashley Young and sophomore singles player Allison Hansen have both been out for several weeks with nagging injuries, and the team has yet to recover.
“We are just coming off a pretty tough set of matches,” Dorny said. “As a team, we are really feeling the losses of Allison and Ashley due to injuries, and knowing what a big difference those two players could make in the outcomes of these close matches is really weighing heavily on the team right now.”
Dorny lamented the fact that she has been forced to play her backups as starters. Junior Shannon Brullard and freshman Jenacee Jackson have both seen action in the place of the injured stars, but they have been unable to step up.
“The young ones on the team who are playing big positions are struggling with confidence,” Dorny said. “We are trying to make the best of a poor situation.”
Quoted as saying that her team might surprise “even ourselves” in their two-meet set in Las Vegas over the weekend, the tough losses can hardly be characterized as surprising.
Men’s tennis rolls
The U men’s tennis team (8-8) notched a resounding 7-0 win over the weekend against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at the Eccles Center.
The Utes opened the meet with wins in both doubles matches to grab an early one-point lead. The singles players followed suit with six straight-set victories to claim the team victory.
The No. 1 singles player for the Utes, senior Roeland Brateanu, demolished his opponent, Thibault Schram, with a 6-0, 6-4 two-set rout. The Utes’ No. 2 singles player, freshman Miron Mann, took down Northern Arizona’s Jamie Maxwell easily, 6-4, 6-2 .
Heading into critical conference matches against San Diego State and UNLV, Ute head coach F.D. Robbins was glad to get his team going on the right path with a strong win against NAU.
“It’s good to get a little momentum,” Robbins said. We’re going down to play UNLV and San Diego State this next weekend, so we’re getting some confidence to go down there and play those guys.”