GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Men's Tennis team will head to the Lone Star state for four key matches, including three NCAA Division II South Central Regional affairs over three days, starting Thursday.
 
The Mavericks, currently 2-5 overall and looking for their first win of the spring, will play the top three teams in the region, according to the latest (Jan. 16) Oracle/ITA Division II South Central Regional Rankings, two of whom are nationally-ranked, to begin the stretch and then wrap up the weekend in the Wichita Falls, Texas with another match-up against Southern Arkansas, ranked eighth in the Central Region.
 
The trip begins Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. CST (3 p.m. Mountain) against St. Edward's at Hamilton Park.  They will then move across town to take on weekend host and No. 17 Midwestern State at the MSU Tennis Center on Friday morning at 9 a.m. CST (8 a.m. Mountain) before heading back to Hamilton Park for a 3 p.m. CST (2 p.m. Mountain) encounter with No. 24 Cameron. 

Saturday's match against Southern Arkansas, receiving votes in the national poll, is slated for 8 a.m. CST (7 a.m. Mountain) at the MSU Tennis Center.
 
The Maverick women are also playing three matches over two days.   
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks had their first home dual of the spring last Thursday, dropping a 5-2 decision to MSU-Denver at the Elliott Tennis Center.  The Mavericks were also scheduled to host CSU-Pueblo on Saturday but that match has been postponed until Friday, April 19^th.
 
Against the Roadrunners, the Mavericks picked up singles wins from seniors Lucas Martin and William Agritelley in the No. 4 and No. 6 flights, respectively.
 
Agritelley takes the lead and searches for new career-high
 
The senior out of Dallas, Texas claimed his team-leading sixth singles win of the campaign on when he defeated MSU-Denver's Kacey Walisundara, 6-1, 6-1.  He is now 4-3 in dual meet matches in the No. 4 (1-0), No. 5 (1-1) and No. 6 (2-2) positions.  He has won two of his four matches this spring.  With still a majority of the season remaining, Agritelley is just two singles wins away from his sophomore and junior season totals of eight.  He also won eight singles matches while playing at Washburn as a freshman.
 
Solid Doubles play
 
The Mavericks have won the doubles point in five of their seven dual matches this year sweeping the three doubles matches against Newman (Kan.) on Sept. 15.  De La Bastide and Martin are 4-2 in the No. 2 spot and were leading in the other match that was unfinished against Idaho State.  Meanwhile, four different Maverick combinations have posted a cumulative 5-2 mark at No. 3 doubles.
 
One from 50
 
Lucas Martin, one of the Mavs' three seniors, is still just one win away from 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 now has 49 career doubles wins (49-42) and 88 overall wins, including 39 singles triumphs (39-54) in his career.  He defeated David Kijak of MSU Denver by a 6-3, 6-4 score at No. 4 singles last Thursday.
 
Just one from double-digits
 
Martin and Alain De La Bastide are both just one victory away from becoming the first Mavericks to reach double figures for doubles wins this season.  They are 9-4 together this season, including a 5-2 tournament record in the fall.  De La Basitide also played one match with Moises Cure in the fall.
 
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 1-3 against other teams ranked in the top 10 thus far.
 
All four of this week's opponents are also regionally ranked.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
St. Edward's
 
The Hilltoppers, who are ranked second in the latest (Jan. 16) Oracle/ITA South Central Regional Rankings, are 6-3 after a 6-1 Tuesday afternoon win at Laredo Community College. their fifth straight year.  They began the spring ranked 24^th nationally as of Jan. 16 but are not currently nationally ranked.
 
Individually, Chase Bartlett is ranked 11^th in the nation in singles while Luis Davis is tabbed 50^th in the ITA's national rankings.  Bartlett became the program's first ever ITA Regional Singles Champion in September and advanced to the ITA Oracle National Championships.  His round of 32 regional match was a win over CMU's Moises Cure.
 
The Hilltoppers, who hail from Austin, Texas, will play MSU Denver earlier on Thursday.
 
They are the reigning Heartland Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions and went 21-10 while advancing to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Division II Championship a year ago.  One of the Hilltoppers' wins came against the Mavericks as they defeated CMU 8-1 on Feb. 23, 2018 in Phoenix.
 
Midwestern State
 
The Mustangs will enter Friday's match with a 3-0 record after defeating St. Mary's and Southeastern Oklahoma State by 6-1 and 5-2 scores, respectively, last week.  They are ranked first in in Jan. 16 edition of the Oracle/ITA South Central Regional Rankings and sit 17^th in the national rankings as of Feb. 20 after starting the spring in the No. 14 spot. 
 
The doubles team of Ben Westwick and Alberto Diaz are ranked eighth nationally after becoming the first Mustang pair to advance to the ITA National Championships since 2009.  They had won the South Central Regional, However, Westwick has been paired with Dillon Pineda at No. 1 doubles in all three matches of the spring.  They are 2-1 together. 
 
Diaz has not played doubles this season but is 2-1 in singles with a 2-0 record at No. 5.  In the fall, Maverick No. 1 singles player Max Lindqvist defeated Diaz in a 3-set match in the opening round of the ITA South Central Regional

Angel Palacios is 3-0 at No. 1 singles this spring for the Mustangs.
 
In 2017-18, the Mustangs went 22-6 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament for the fourth time in the last six years.  One of their wins came over the Mavericks on Mar. 23, 2018 in Pueblo.  They won 8-1 with De La Bastide and Martin claiming a No. 2 doubles victory to score the Mavs' lone point.
 
Cameron
 
The Aggies, who hail from Lawton, Oklahoma, are ranked third in the Jan. 16 edition of the regional rankings and sit 24^th in the national rankings after beginning the spring unranked nationally. 
 
They are 5-3 this spring heading into a Friday morning match against CSU-Pueblo.  Julen Gutierrez and Vinicius Santos are ranked 13^th nationally as a doubles team (as of Jan. 16) and are 4-4 at the No. 1 doubles spot this spring.  Santos is also 4-4 at No. 1 singles.  Mritunjay Badola is 5-3 at the No. 3 singles spot and is 4-2 with Przemyslaw Zielinski at No. 2 doubles.
 
The Aggies went 9-11 as a team last year.
 
The Mavs and Aggies last met in team play on Mar. 16, 2016 in Lawton.  The Aggies won that match 8-1.
 
Southern Arkansas
 
The Muleriders currently have had a busy spring posting an 9-2 record while moving into the receiving votes category of the Feb. 20 ITA National Rankings.  They will play MSU Denver on Friday before facing the Mavericks on Saturday.  They enter the weekend as winners of five straight, playing all of those matches at home in Magnolia.
 
In their last match, they defeated defending Great America Conference Champion Southeastern Oklahoma State by a 4-2 score, handing the Savage Storm their first conference loss since 2017.
 
Southern Arkansas is ranked eighth in the ITA's Central Regional rankings as of Jan. 16, quite a feat considering the Mulerider men's and women's tennis programs were revived in the fall after being discontinued for several years.
 
Up Next

After this weekend's matches, the Mavericks will have less than a week off before departing for a spring break trip to Southern California, playing four matches in as many days starting at No. 11 Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Mar. 16.