Utah Men’s Tennis Looks To Continue Home Success
University of Utah senior Slava Shainyan returns the serve during an NCAA Tennis match against East Tennessee State University at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (Photo by Abu Asib | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
February 7, 2020
The University of Utah men’s tennis team (5-2, 0-0 Pac-12) continues its home streak this Friday, Feb. 7 with two matches. The Utes are coming off a three-win weekend, with all of their wins coming in the friendly confines of the George S. Eccles Tennis Center, bringing their home win total for the season up to five.
They look to continue this run as they prepare to host in-state rival Utah State University. This first match of the day is scheduled to take place at noon. The games will be played in Salt Lake City at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
The Aggies come into this match struggling — they lost their last four attempts, which lands their season record at one win and four losses. These losses have come against the University of Idaho, No. 17 North Carolina State University, the University of Memphis and the University of Denver, while their lone win came against Grand Canyon University. The last time the Utes and Aggies squared off was in 2018, when the Utes won a close-fought match by a score of 4-3.
The second match of the day comes at 5 p.m., when Idaho State University comes to Salt Lake City. The Bengals boast a record of three wins and one loss so far in the early part of their season. They opened their 2020 campaign with a win over Seattle University but then lost badly to Boise State University. After this loss, the Bengals were able to bounce back and earn their next two wins against Lewis-Clark State College and Colorado Mesa University. The Utes and the Bengals have played in each of the past three seasons. In 2019, the Utes were victorious 4-1, and the two previous years they swept the Bengals 7-0.
The only wins that the Utes men’s tennis team have this season have all come at home, so they look to keep up the quality play against opponents they have had success against in the past.
Next weekend, the men will travel to Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico for two more matches. The U women’s tennis team also returns to action next weekend on Feb. 15 and 16 as they look to improve on their 5-2 record.
