The University of Utah men’s and women’s tennis teams each had more than just the matches in front of them on their minds as they took the court this weekend. The women faced former longtime Ute assistant coach RuthAnn Allen as the Weber State Wildcats came into town, and the men faced the school that handed them their last loss.

Starting off the weekend on a high note, the Ute women quickly dispatched the New Mexico State Aggies in convincing fashion, 5-0 at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City Thursday afternoon.

The Utes No. 2 doubles pairing of Anya Lamoreaux/Lindsay Hung bested NMSU’s Miranda Bishard/Bella Nguyen, 6-2, while the Utes No. 3 pairing of Jasmine Rich/Anastasia Goncharova topped Chloe Gavino/Lucija Josipovic, 6-1.

The Utes continued to roll in singles matches against NMSU, as Jasmine Rich (6-0, 6-1), Lindsay Hung (6-1, 6-2), Anastasia Goncharova (6-2, 6-1) and Anya Lamoreaux (6-1, 6-2) each won in dominating fashion, advancing the Utes to 2-0 on the young season.

On Saturday, the Weber State Wildcats made the 45-minute trek south to take on the Utes. This match came with an added level of importance to the Utes, as the Wildcats are now led by RuthAnn Allen — a woman that played an important role in the recruiting of most current Utes. 

Beginning the match on a negative note, the women dropped the doubles point after their No. 2 team of Lamoreaux/Hung fell 6-3 and the No. 3 team of Rich/Goncharova only managed two games in a 6-2 loss. Looking much more comfortable in singles action, Emily Dush (6-1, 6-3), Hung (6-4, 6-2), Goncharova (6-4, 6-2) and Lamoreaux (7-6 (7-3), 6-0) prevailed to move the Utes to 3-0 at home this season

Following the second women’s victory of the weekend, the men took the court, looking to avenge an early-season loss to Southern Methodist University. 

SMU was a game opponent but, in an emotion-fueled affair, the Utes pulled out a 4-3 win in thrilling fashion Saturday night. In doubles action, No. 2 Slava Shainyan/Mathias Gavelin won 6-4, quickly followed by a hard-fought, come from behind 6-4 win from Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Busleiman.

With the 4-0 win in pocket after Bruno Krenn (6-4, 6-2), Gavelin (6-3, 7-5) and No.1 Shainyan (6-3, 7-5) finished their matches, the best tennis of the night was still to be played on the No. 2 and 5 courts.

On court 2, Franco Capalbo, was eventually defeated in a back and forth match that included a game point being awarded to Capalbo in the second set after an SMU coach kicked a trash can in frustration.  

Tiebreakers were the name of the game on court 5. Julian Steinhausen defeated Ute Francisco Bastias after all three sets went to tiebreakers. This match also had to be stopped at least three times as the referee spoke with coaches, players and the “crowd” repeatedly.

Sunday afternoon, the Utes invited former WAC & Mountain West foe New Mexico State into town. The Aggies, playing only their second match of the season, started strong by taking the doubles point to begin the match.

Fortunes quickly turned around for the Utes as Busleiman (6-2, 6-1), Krenn (4-6, 6-1, 6-1), Capalbo (4-6, 6-3, 6-2) and Bastias (7-6(7-3), 6-3) gave the Utes a 4-1 victory. Shainyan and Chris Heck did not finish their matches after the Utes clinched the meet.

The men stay home, as they welcome Boise State (2-0) into the George S. Eccles Tennis Center this coming weekend, with first serve scheduled for 12 p.m. MST. This will be the Broncos’ first match since Jan. 24 as they have had three matches postponed. 

The women’s team will travel south to Texas as they are scheduled to face Texas A&M (6-2) on Friday, Feb. 12, which will be followed by a Valentine’s Day matchup with Houston (4-2) on Sunday, Feb. 14. First serve times are TBD for these matches.

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