GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After the Colorado Mesa University Men's Tennis team faced some challenging opponents in Texas last weekend, the Mavericks will face more in California as they will play four matches in as many afternoons starting Saturday.
 
The Mavericks, currently 2-9 overall, and still looking for their first team win of the spring season, begin the stretch in Azusa against Azusa Pacific, currently ranked 11^th in the country.  They will then travel north to Fresno to face Holy Names in a neutral-site encounter on the campus of Fresno Pacific University before returning to the metropolitan Los Angeles area for a meeting with Biola in La Mirada on Monday.
 
The Mavericks then wrap up the trip in San Diego at Point Loma Nazarene on Tuesday afternoon.
 
All four of the opponents began the spring ranked in the latest Oracle/ITA Division II West Region Rankings, released on Jan. 16.  The Mavericks are ranked seventh in the South Central Region.
 
The Maverick women will also be playing the same opponents on the same days.
 
Watch the Mavs
 
Live streaming and scores, which will be updated approximately every 10 minutes, of the Monday afternoon match at the Biola Tennis Center can be seen at the links above.  A live stream of Tuesday's match against Point Loma Nazarene is also scheduled and can be accessed at the link above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks played four regionally-ranked foes last weekend in Wichita Falls, Texas, including two that are nationally ranked.  The Mavs won the doubles point in their last match against Southern Arkansas with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles but did drop all of their official singles matches.  The Mavs did pick up a pair of exhibition match wins as well.
 
Reaching a milestone
 
One of the Mavericks' match wins against the Southern Arkansas Muleriders came at No. 1 doubles as Maverick senior Lucas Martin claimed his 50^th career doubles win.  Partnering with Alain De La Bastide in the 6-4 win over Alexandre Machaj and Yuri Gondouin, Martin is now 50-45 in his Maverick career in doubles.  He also now has 89 career wins.
 
Martin, who hails from Fort Collins, Colorado, and De La Bastide are a team-best 10-7 at doubles this year as a duo and have an even 5-5 record in dual matches.  They had been playing at the No. 2 position but moved up to No. 1 for the final three matches of last weekend.  Martin's win on Saturday was his first career triumph in the top flight.
 
Top 10 Clashes
 
The Mavericks are ranked seventh as a team in the Oracle/ITA Division II South Central Regional rankings, last updated on Jan. 16.  They are 1-6 against other teams ranked in the top 10 of the region and 1-7 against top-10 ranked teams from all regions thus far this season.
 
All four of this week's opponents are also regionally ranked in the West Region.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Azusa Pacific
 
The Cougars currently sit in the No. 11 spot of the ITA Division II National Rankings, last released on Feb. 20.  They began the spring 13^th after beginning the spring ranked second in the West Region behind only Hawai'i-Hilo.
 
The Cougars are 10-1 this spring with their lone loss coming on Mar. 5 to Hawai'I Pacific.  They play three more matches before facing the Mavericks taking on Division I UC-Riverside on Friday and Daemen College on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. before taking on the Mavs at 1 p.m.
 
The Cougars' Jakob Schnaitter is ranked ninth nationally in singles.  He and Filip Kesina are also ranked second in doubles, although Kesina is no longer listed on the Cougars' roster.  They won the ITA West Regional and finished second at the ITA Cup.  Schnaitter also went 1-2 at the ITA Cup in singles.
 
Schnaitter is 8-1 thus far in the spring season at No. 1 singles.  Ryan Nuno is a perfect 9-0 at No. 2.
 
Ronald Kang and Ethan Smith are a perfect 10-0 at No. 3 doubles while the Cougars' other two pairs are 8-3.  Schnaitter has been playing with Jesse Haas at No. 1.
 
Holy Names
 
The Hawks will enter Sunday's match with 1-7 team record this spring.  They began the season ranked eighth in the Oracle/ITA West Region Rankings.  They have scored points in all but of their eight matches and their last two losses have come by the slimmest of 4-3 margins.
 
Hugo Colpart is ranked 37^th nationally as of Jan. 16 and is 7-8 overall this year, but just 2-6 in dual meets this spring.  He has split time between the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.  The Hawks have been able to produce more consistent results in the bottom half of the lineup.  Valentin Baranyi is leading that charge with a 5-3 dual meet record at No. 4 (3-2) and No. 5 (2-1) singles.
 
In doubles, the Hawks have won just five total matches in their eight duals.  Colpart and Alex Vinee-Munoz have four wins overall, including two at No. 1 doubles.
 
Biola
 
The Eagles, who are ranked ninth in the ITA's West Region Rankings, are currently 5-4 but will play two more matches before Monday's encounter with the Mavericks.  They host the University of Rochester on Thursday and are at Point Loma on Saturday.
 
They have won three of their last four matches, dropping a 4-3 decision to Western New Mexico on Monday.
 
Derek James is a perfect 5-0 this spring, playing four of his five matches at No. 3 singles.  Logan Blair has also been solid going 4-3 with one victory at No. 1 singles while splitting his other six matches in the second flight.   David Garcia also has a winning 4-2 record while playing in three different positions.
 
The Eagles have used a variety of doubles combinations.  Garcia and Edwyn Ramos are 3-1 together at No. 3 while Ramos is 5-1 overall.
 
Point Loma
 
The Sea Lions, slotted seventh in ITA West Region Rankings, are currently 1-4 this spring but play three more times before facing the Mavericks, including a Wednesday afternoon encounter with Division I Navy.
 
Their lone team win thus far came on Feb. 19 against St. Katherine by a 7-0 score.
 
Individually, Thomas Dafcik is 4-0 at No. 1 singles and is ranked 26^th nationally by the ITA. 
 
In doubles, Dafcik and Yuki Okamoto are ranked 22^nd nationally.  They are 3-1 thus far this spring.
 
Up Next

After the California trip, the Mavericks will remain in the state of Colorado for the rest of the season.  After more than two weeks off of competition, they will return to the courts to face MSU Denver on Friday, Apr. 5 in Denver before travelling to CSU-Pueblo on Saturday, Apr. 6.