GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After beginning their spring season against two Division I opponents last week, the Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team will return to Division II action this weekend when they face Western New Mexico University in a key neutral-court NCAA Division II South Central Regional match-up on Saturday in St. George, Utah.
First serve between the Mavericks and Mustangs is slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Dixie State Tennis Courts in St. George, Utah. The Maverick women are also playing the Mustangs that morning at 8 o'clock.
The Maverick men will also scrimmage MSU Denver on Sunday at 9 a.m. during their trip to Utah.
Top 10 Clash
The Mavericks are ranked seventh as a team in the
Oracle/ITA Division II South Central Regional rankings, last updated on Jan. 16. Western New Mexico is ranked ninth.
The Mavericks also played No. 6 Texas-Permian Basin and No. 8 Newman in the fall.
Last Week
The Mavericks played a pair of Division I foes on the road last week falling 7-0 to Idaho State on Friday, Feb. 8 in Pocatello, Idaho before dropping a 6-1 match to Weber State on Saturday in Ogden, Utah. With the losses, the Mavericks fell to 2-3 overall. They are 1-1 against Division II foes from the South Central Region having defeated Newman (Kan.) by a 4-3 score on Sept. 15 after falling to Texas-Permian Basin by a 5-2 margin earlier that day.
Agritelley for the win
Maverick senior
William Agritelley provided the Mavericks' lone point last weekend as he won his No. 6 singles match against Weber State's Keith McMullin (6-4, 6-2) during Saturday's dual.
Agritelley, who hails from Dallas, Texas, now leads the Mavericks in singles wins with five. He is 5-6 overall and has a 3-2 record in dual-meet matches in the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions this year.
A winning Scandinavian combination
The Mavericks also won at No. 3 doubles against Weber State with Scandinavian
Max Lindqvist and
Christian Albrechtsen picking up a 6-3 win over Cezary Walkusz and McMullin. However, they dropped the doubles point overall.
Lindqvist, a senior from Stockholm, Sweden, and Albrechtesen, a freshman from Coppenhagen, Denmark were playing together for the first time this season.
Martin nearing milestones
Lucas Martin, one of the Mavs' three seniors, is nearing the 50-career win mark in doubles and is rapidly approaching the 100-career win mark overall. The 5-time overall (4x Second Team) All-RMAC selection out of Fort Collins, Colorado has 48 career doubles wins (48-41) and 86 overall wins, including 38 singles triumphs (38-53) in his career.
United Nations
The Mavericks have players from six different countries on their roster this year, including
Alain De La Bastide, who hails from Caracas, Venezuela. Freshman
Moises Cure of Puerto, Colombia and
Thiago Nejm of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil also represent South America. Europe and Scandinavia are also well represented on the roster with Lindqvist and Albrechtsen from Denmark.
There are also six Mavericks from the United States, representing four states, including Colorado (3). There are also Mavs from California (
Steven Howe), Oregon (
Mitchell Steadman) and Texas (Agritelley).
About the Mustangs
Western New Mexico will enter Saturday's match with a 1-2 overall record after officially opening their spring season last weekend in Arizona. They defeated Ottawa University Arizona by a 5-4 score last Saturday (Feb. 9) in Surprise before dropping a 6-1 match against another NAIA foe in Arizona Christian later that day. They then fell 6-3 against Mesa Community College on Sunday.
They only had five players on the trip and thus defaulted in the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles spots.
Joaquin Delpino, Joel Ockernahl and Oscar Serra all won singles matches against Ottawa while Ockernahl was their lone winner against Arizona Christian.
Ockernahl then made it a 3-0 trip with a No. 3 singles win against MCC. Delpino and Niko Barr also claimed wins at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
In doubles, Barr and Serra were the only duo to win, defeating Ottawa's No. 2 pair by an 8-4 score.
Mustang senior Liam Fraboulet began the spring season ranked 48
th nationally, according to the Oracle/ITA NCAA Division II National Singles rankings released on Nov. 21.
In 2017-18, the Mustangs went 3-18 losing each of their final 13 team matches. They did defeat the Mavericks, 6-3 on Feb. 24 in Phoenix.
