Utah’s doubles teams had no difficulty, as they swept the Wildcats in all three matchups. The Utes kept their momentum as they moved into the singles matchups, winning five of those six contests. Sophomore Matthew Cowley was the only Utah player to lose a singles match.
“We are always happy to get a win on the opener,” said head coach F.D. Robbins. “It’s a good start.”
The first doubles team to finish off its Wildcat opponents was the pairing of senior Devin Lane and freshman David Papis-Elon. Next came senior Alejandro Medinilla and Cowley, who showed great chemistry and looked very strong against their opponent. Finally, the Utes’ No. 1 doubles team of juniors Slim Hamza and Cedric Willems completed the sweep.
“We played a lot better in the doubles,” Robbins said. “Doubles in the past couple years has always been a hard thing for us to get, so we have got some potential.”
Cowley believes the great chemistry he has with Medinilla is partly because they both speak Spanish. Medinilla was born in Mexico, while Cowley just returned to the team after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dominican Republic.
“We are able to speak a little Spanish in between points,” Cowley said.
Because of that chemistry, Cowley hopes he and Medinilla can have a winning record this year against difficult Pac-12 opponents.
Overall, Utah showed the same level of superiority in singles, as only a few players ran into difficulties. Hamza, senior Ben Tasevac, Willems and freshman Patrick Mayer were all able to crush their opponents in straight sets. Lane dropped his first set but was able to recover by winning the next two.
Cowley appeared to have his match against WSU’s Oliver Good under control like his fellow teammates after he won the first set 9-5, but he fell in the next two sets. Robbins said Good has given Utah problems throughout his career.
“I definitely think nerves came into play,” Cowley said. “I could feel my muscles beginning to tighten up during those big points.”
Robbins also tossed Cowley’s match up to nerves, since the sophomore has not had the chance to play the past two seasons because he served an LDS mission.
“He was going to redshirt in the fall so he didn’t get in as many matches under his belt,” Robbins said. “This is really his only competitive stuff.”
The Utes will next take on Cal Poly and New Mexico this weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico.