GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Men's & Women's Tennis teams will get their 2019-20 seasons underway this weekend in Denver competing at the MSU Denver Invitational at the Roadrunners' Regency Athletic Complex on Saturday and Sunday.
Action is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. each morning running throughout both days. The final matches are slated to commence 8:15 p.m. on Saturday evening and 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Tournament Format
The individual style tournament will feature 16-person, double elimination brackets at the A and B levels for both the men and women. Additional matches will also be added dependent on the weather and pace of play. There will also be a 16-team doubles bracket for both genders. The Mavericks have entered nine men and eight women in singles and four doubles teams for each gender into the tentative draws.
They are expected to compete against players from Colorado College, CSU-Pueblo and the host Roadrunner squad.
Singles entrants
Sophomores
Christian Albrechtsen,
Moises Cure,
Steven Howe and senior
Alain De La Bastide will represent the Maverick men in the A singles bracket after all served as regulars in the Mavs' starting lineup in 2018-19. The Mavericks also have five men in the B bracket draw in
Cody Carlton,
Tyler Landen,
Thiago Nejm,
Chapin Schott and
Mitchell Steadman.
Meanwhile, the Maverick women will have four representatives in each bracket. In the A bracket, Coach
Dan MacDonald has entered his three returning starters in seniors
Kristen Kirby and
Rebecca Osterberg, sophomore
Maike Waldburger and freshman newcomer
Laura Alsing, who hails from Denmark. The B draw includes
Carolena Campos,
Alexi Klabunde,
Lauren Thomas and freshman
Halle Romero.
Pair them up
The three Maverick women's returning starters (Kirby, Osterberg and Waldburger) will each have new doubles partners, at least for this weekend, after the graduation of their respective senior partners last year. Kirby will play with Alsing while Osterberg and Waldburger have been placed together in another partnership for the season-opening event. Kirby played with then
Emily Beckley throughout last season at the No. 1 position earning First Team All-RMAC honors. Osterberg played with
Taylor Hershey for all but two matches last year while Waldburger played with
Georgia Hansen earning Second Team All-RMAC honors last year.
Campos, who saw some action in 2018-19, will play with Thomas this weekend after Thomas redshirted last season. Klabunde, who also redshirted last season, will play with Romero this weekend.
New men's duos
The Maverick men will also have new doubles partnerships this weekend. Highlighting the list are returning starters Cure and De La Bastide, who did play one match together last year but were primarily in separate pairs with graduated seniors for much of last year.
Meanwhile,
Steven Howe will play with freshman newcomer
Tyler Landen after posting an 8-7 overall doubles record last year, with Albrechtsen and 2019 senior
Max Lindqvist as partners.
Albrechtsen has been matched with Nejm for this weekend while returning seniors Carlton and Steadman will make up another Maverick duo this weekend.
Looking Ahead
After this weekend's individual tournament, the Mavericks will return to team action next weekend competing at the Pueblo Duals at City Park. The Maverick men will face NCAA Division II South Central foes Dallas Baptist, Texas-Permian Basin and Newman on consecutive days, starting next Thursday (Sept. 12).
The Maverick women will play five matches over three days, facing those three opponents as well as Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State during the three days in the Steel City.
Home Fall Tennis
The Mavericks will also have some home matches later in the fall on the Sept. 27-28 weekend. Both CMU squads will face Colorado College while the women will also play Dixie State.
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 but will be a new thing for the Maverick women this season.
