GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Men's Tennis team will look to close out the season on a high note and a winning streak when they host Colorado State University-Pueblo in a re-match of in-state rivals on Friday morning at the Elliott Tennis Center.
First serves for both the men's and women's duals against the ThunderWolves are slated for 10 a.m.
Friday's encounter, which will be a re-match of the ThunderWolves narrow 4-3 win on Apr. 6, is a make-up for the originally scheduled Mar. 2 match which was washed out by weather and difficult travel conditions at the time.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split matches on their final road trip of the season falling 7-0 to NCAA Division I Northern Colorado in Greeley last Thursday before responding for a comfortable 8-1 win over Division III Colorado College on Friday. Friday's victory left the Mavericks a 4-15 overall record and allowed them to complete the 2018-19 double over the Tigers, who had also played in Grand Junction back in October.
The doubles duo of Alain De La Basitide and
Lucas Martin went 2-0 on the trip as they won 6-2 over Northern Colorado's No. 1 partnership of Kyle Pease and Tommy Smalley before claiming an 8-4 win over CC's Noah Forman and Daniel Holland on Friday.
De La Bastide and Martin also won their singles matches against the Tigers as the Mavericks won all three doubles matches and took five of the six singles wins, including four in straight sets.
Bagel-Bagel Man
In his No. 4 singles match against Christian Kitchen on Friday,
Lucas Martin won both sets by 6-0 counts without giving up a single game. The victory was his third overall win of the trip and leaves him with 97 career victories heading into Friday's season-finale meaning that even with two wins against the ThunderWolves, he will fall just shy of 100 for his career.
However, the senior out of Fort Collins has still enjoyed a solid Maverick career that has seen him go 55-48 in doubles and 42-63 in singles. He earned five total and four Second Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors in his first three years as a Maverick and leads this year's squad in doubles wins along with his partner De La Bastide. Both have 15 victories in doubles.
Speaking of senior success
The Mavericks' other two seniors have also fared well in their Maverick careers.
Max Lindqvist has posted 79 career victories while earning four total All-RMAC honors, including 2018 First Team Singles accolades in his time at CMU. The Swede has played in the No. 1 singles position throughout the last two years after seeing some spot duty in that role as a sophomore.
Meanwhile,
William Agritelley has 54 wins to his credit in his three years as a Maverick after transferring from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. The Dallas, Texas native paces this year's squad with nine singles wins.
Home return
Friday's match will be CMU's first home match in nearly two months and will be just their third of the entire year. The Mavericks have played their last 12 matches away from the Elliott Tennis Center after playing their only previous spring season home match on Feb. 28 against MSU Denver.
A win on Friday would give the Mavericks a winning home court record for the fifth straight year. They are 22-7 over that stretch dating back to the fall of 2014.
Two for Howe
Steven Howe cracked back into the Maverick lineup on Friday against Colorado College and took full advantage of the opportunity, winning both of his matches. He teamed with
Christian Albrechtsen for a 8-2 No. 3 doubles win over the Tiger duo of Alex Kiley and Alex Wimer and then scored a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Wimer in No. 6 singles.
Moving on up
Maverick freshman
Christian Albrechtsen, who hails from Coppenhagen, Denmark, moved up to the No. 2 spot in the Mavericks' singles lineup for the first time this season on Friday, posting a 6-3, 6-0 win over Colorado College's Daniel Holland. He has now played in five different spots in the lineup this season. He had been in the No. 3 spot for the past six team matches, going 1-4 while one match went unfinished.
Scouting the Opponents/Last Time We Met
The ThunderWolves are 3-13 on the year but had last weekend off after defeating the Mavericks, 4-3 on Apr. 6 at Pueblo East High School. That win snapped a 5-match slide.
Against the Mavericks, the ThunderWolves won the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3 and then took the dual by winning three of the six singles matches. Edward Cooper and Danta Alcala both went 2-0 throughout the day. Cooper teamed with Richard Garcia for a No. 2 6-3 doubles win and then defeated
Christian Albrechtsen , 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Meanwhile, Alcala teamed with James Ryan for a 6-2 No. 3 doubles victory and then picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over
William Agritelley at No. 6 singles.
Up Next
Friday's encounter wraps up the 2018-19 Maverick men's tennis season.
