GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team will begin the team competition portion of the season this week in Pueblo contesting three duals in as many days starting Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against Dallas Baptist University.
The Pueblo Duals will also include Friday (8 a.m.) and Saturday (Noon) matches against Texas-Permian Basin and Newman, respectively. All of them will be played at Pueblo City Park.
Last Time Out
Although this weekend's matches will mark the first time that the Mavs will have played as a team this year, they got in a lot of action over the weekend at the MSU Denver Invitational, played on Saturday and Sunday at the Roadrunners' Regency Athletic Complex.
The Mavericks combined to post a winning 11-10 record in singles as eight different Mavericks recorded at least one win. All four Maverick doubles teams also went 1-1 at the tournament, which included opponents from Colorado College, CSU-Pueblo and the host Roadrunner squad.
In the A singles draw,
Moises Cure and
Steven Howe both advanced to the consolation final before deciding not to play each other. Cure went 2-1 and co-led the team with
Mitchell Steadman, who advanced to the championship semifinals of the B draw, with two singles wins a piece.
Stedman and
Cody Carlton also claimed the consolation title in the doubles draw going 1-1 while picking up two walk-over wins.
About the Opponents/Series Histories
Dallas Baptist
DBU opened their season last weekend at the Tyler Invite in Tyler, Texas. Four members of the team each claimed wins in both singles and doubles.
In 2018-19, the Patriots went 9-17 and 0-4 in the Heartland Conference play. They are now members of the Lone Star Conference.
The Patriots and Mavericks have faced each other three times previously. The Mavericks have won all three of those meetings, the last of which came Feb. 27, 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Texas Permian-Basin
The Falcons will open the season this weekend after going 12-10 last season. They qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament but lost their opening match to MSU Texas.
The teams have met every September in Pueblo since 2014. The Falcons won last year's match 5-2 and were also victorious in 2017 after the Mavericks had won the previous three years. CMU also won 8-1 in the fall of 2012 at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Newman
The Jets opened their season last Friday and Saturday at the Tiger-Jinx Invitational in Winfield, Kansas. Marcel Miasato took second in the Singles C flight. Lauri Soome and Arthur Esteves Justo placed fourth in the Doubles A Flight while Miasato and Teodor Antelj placed second in the Doubles B flight.
Up Next
After this weekend's busy slate, the Mavericks will get a week off but will return to action on Sept. 28 for their only home match of the fall season against Colorado College.
Wrapping up the Fall out West
The Mavericks will then wrap up the fall portion of the season on Oct. 3-5 competing in the ITA West Regional Championships in Azusa, California, a change from previous seasons when they went to the South Central Regional, typically held in Texas.
Independent Path
Although they will compete at the ITA West Regional, the Mavericks will be competing for NCAA Tournament spots out of the South Central Region. Both Maverick squads will be competing as independents as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference no longer sponsors the sport for either gender. That was also the case for the men in 2018-19.
