The University of Utah men’s tennis team returned home to the Eccles Tennis Center this past weekend for three matches. They hosted the University of Denver Pioneers (1-4), the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0-2), and the Montana State Bobcats (2-6). Utah (6-1) compiled solid performances to help them clinch all three wins in their second weekend back at home.
The first match got underway on Saturday as Utah kicked things off with an eager and ready-to-play attitude. Utah saw success on the court as they dominated Denver, winning 6-1. In doubles competition, David Micevski and Egbert Weverink defeated Pedro Del Valle and Jesse Ruder-Hook, 6-4. Parker McGuiness and Slava Shainyan outscored Zach Fryer and Diogo Rocha, 7-6 (7-4).
In singles competition, five Utes were able to secure themselves a win. Micevski defeated Rocha, 6-4, 6-2. Dan Little beat out Yannik James, 6-2, 6-1. McGuiness overcame Alex Gasson, 6-4, 6-2. Joe Woolley went 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 grabbing the win against Ruder-Hook and Shainyan came out on top 2-6, 5-3, 6-4 over Del Valle.
“We’re really happy to get the Denver win which was big for our program,” said head coach Roeland Brateanu. “Denver’s been a program that we’ve had battles with. Took us six years to beat them once. We beat them last week in Ohio, and six days later we beat them again.”
Early Sunday morning, Utah met Northern Arizona on the courts to begin their first match of their doubleheader. Utah was able to hold off the Lumberjacks to earn a 6-1 victory. In doubles competition, Little paired up with Woolley to defeat Sebastian Eguez and Ruben Montano, 5-4. Weverink joined Micevski as the two took down Lucas Taylor and Tim Handel, 6-4. Azat Hankuliyev and Shainyan worked together to earn a 6-3 victory over Thomas Fisher and Felix Schuman.
In singles play, Micevski defeated Handel, 6-2, 6-0. Little claimed a 6-0, 6-3 win over Schuman. Woolley beat out Eguez 6-0, 6-3 and Weverink earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Fisher.
“Overall I’m very happy. Every day I played a little bit better,” Weverink said. “As a team, I feel like the most important part for us right now is that every day we just come out ready to work and it shows in our matches.”
To finish the day off, Utah took on Montana State where they swept the Bobcats, 4-0. In doubles competition, Woolley paired up with Little and won 6-3 over Adrian Torrico and Kellen Bates. Weverink once again joined teammate Micevski as they went on to defeat Kasper Parklo and Alexander Flink, 6-4.
Six Utes were able to take care of business as Utah swept the singles competition. Micevski trounced Rok Sitar, 6-2, 6-1. Woolley went 6-1, 6-2 over Flink. Weverink conquered Parklo, 6-4, 6-3. A few games played by Little, Shaniyan and Azat Hankuli went unfinished, although they were all credited a win.
Utah is currently on a four-game win streak, and it is undefeated on home court (5-0). As the season rolls along the team is looking forward to capturing more wins, and it has its eyes set on the NCAA tournament.
“It’s a really good place to be early in the season,” Weverink said. “The scary thing is that if we keep working like this we are going to be scary good.”
Next, up for Utah, they will travel across the valley to take on in-state rival BYU on Thursday at 5 p.m.
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