GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team will begin the spring portion of the 2023-24 season this weekend when they travel to Pocatello, Idaho for two intern-divisional indoor matches in Idaho State University's Reed Gym.
The NCAA Division II Mavs will take on the host and NCAA Division I Bengals on Saturday at 9 a.m. and will then square off against NCAA Division III Whitman College of Walla Walla, Washington on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m.
CMU's women will also play two matches in Idaho, facing the Bengals on Saturday and the College of Idaho Yotes on Sunday.
Fall Recap
The Mavericks played in one team match and two individual style tournaments during the compact but busy fall season in September.
The Mavs dropped their only official dual match, 6-1 to Lubbock Christian on Sept. 15 during the weather-plagued Pueblo Duals in Pueblo, Colorado. They did also participate in a pair of scrimmages.
CMU also played in the Colorado College Invitational on Sept. 9-10 and then played in the ITA West Regional Championships in Fresno, California later in September (Sept. 21-23).
Sophomore
William Leschig led the Mavericks with five singles wins throughout the fall, going 5-3 overall. He also recorded the Mavs' lone team point in the dual against Lubbock Christian and joined fellow sophomore
Diogo Manzano in the consolation semifinals at the ITA regionals.
Manzano went 4-4 throughout the fall while
Emil Hultman (3-2) and newcomer
Axel Scholl (3-0) also posted winning records.
School won the "C" singles draw without dropping a set at the CC Invite while Hultman won both of his matches at that tournament to reach the "B" draw final, which was unplayed due to rain.
In doubles, Leschig and
Henry Scheck led the Mavs during the fall, going 3-2 together. Leschig and Manzano. They were 2-1 in tournament play and played in the No. 1 doubles spot in the Sept. 15 dual with Lubbock Christian.
CMU's season statistics to date can be seen here.
ITA Rankings
William Leschig and
Diogo Manzano both ended up in the ITA's West Regional Fall singles rankings, which were announced in November. They were ranked 17
th and 18
th, respectively in
the listing of the region's top 20 individuals.
The Mavs did not have any doubles teams in the top 10 of the region.
PacWest Poll
The Mavericks were picked ninth in
the Pacific West Conference's Preseason Poll, which was announced on Wednesday afternoon.
CMU is in its fourth season as an associate member of the conference, which makes up the entirety of the NCAA Division II West Region for men's tennis.
Eight PacWest teams will be selected for the Apr. 18-20 conference tournament in Surprise, Arizona, the winner of which will earn the conference's automatic qualifying spot in the NCAA Tournament. Three other PacWest squads will be selected at-large based on results throughout the season.
There are no official PacWest regular season matches although member teams are encouraged to play each other throughout the spring to help sort out the seeding and qualification for the PacWest Championships.
Eight PacWest teams, including the Mavs, will begin their spring seasons this weekend.
CMU's men, who garnered 20 points in the poll, have missed the last two PacWest Tournaments but did qualify in 2021, their inaugural season in the conference after playing as an independent for two seasons following the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's dropped sponsorship of the sport.
Former RMAC rival MSU Denver is also an affiliate member of the PacWest. Eight other current PacWest schools also sponsor men's tennis, including new member Westmont, which is in its transition to the NCAA Division II ranks after moving from the NAIA. The Warriors are not eligible for NCAA Tournament selection this year and were picked behind the Mavs in the PacWest poll with 17 points.
Azusa Pacific won the 2023 PacWest title and advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament after dispatching of Concordia in the opening round. Hawai'i Pacific reached quarterfinals and has been picked first in the in the PacWest poll with 92 points. The Sharks, who defeated Point Loma in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and Azusa Pacific Cougars, who had 82 points, both received four first place votes.
Hawai'i Hilo and Point Loma each received a first place vote as well and have been picked third and fourth in the poll with 78 and 75 points, respectively.
Here's a complete look at the poll (first place votes in parenthesis).
- Hawaii Pacific (4 first place votes) - 92
- Azusa Pacific (4) - 82
- Hawai`i Hilo (1) - 78
- Point Loma (1) - 75
- Biola - 65
- Concordia - 51
- MSU Denver - 40
- Fresno Pacific - 30
- Colorado Mesa - 20
- Westmont - 17
Spring Schedule
This weekend's matches are the first two of the Mavs' 11 early-season matches against non-PacWest foes.
The Mavs will play four more indoor matches in Kearney, Nebraska next week and will play three more in metropolitan Phoenix on Feb. 16-17.
CMU will then begin a slate of ten total matches against PacWest foes on Mar. 1 at Biola and will play seven different conference foes throughout the spring. They will match-up with Hawai'i Hilo three times hosting a doubleheader against the Vulcans on Mar. 10 before meeting them again on Mar. 19 during a 5-match, 4-day trip. CMU is not slated to play Concordia nor Hawai'i Pacific this spring.
The Mavs, who will also play Jessup during their Spring Break trip to California, will then close out the regular season playing MSU Denver and Division III Colorado College in home and away matches against both in April.
To see the complete schedule,
please click here.
Probable Lineup
Here is a look at the Mavs' probable singles and doubles lineup for this weekend's matches, according to 19
th Year Head Coach
Dan MacDonald, who did note that men's doubles order has been very competitive and could be moved around.
The singles lineup is nearly identical to MacDonald's lineup in the fall dual against Lubbock Christian although Manzano played at No. 2 that day while Leschig was at No. 3.
Singles (Fall Season Record)
1.
Philemon Jabin (1-5, 0-1 in duals)
2.
William Leschig (5-3, 1-0)
3.
Diogo Manzano (4-4, 0-1)
4.
Henry Scheck (2-4, 0-1)
5.
Emil Hultman (3-2, 0-1)
6.
Jorge Abreu (2-5, 0-1)
Alternates/Exhibitions:
Shawn Springer (0-2, 0-0) &
Axel Scholl (3-0, 0-0)
Doubles (Fall Season Record)
Scheck/Leschig (3-2, 0-1 as a duo)
Hultman (1-3, 0-1)/Jabin (1-4, 0-1)
Manzano (1-4, 0-1)/Abreu (1-3, 0-1)
Manzano had played with Jabin in the fall while Hultman and Abreu were partners during the fall while the group has formed new partnerships for the start of the spring.
About the Bengals
Idaho State is off to a 1-2 start this spring having dropped 4-3 and 6-1 decisions at UNLV and Boise State, respectively, before getting a 7-0 win over NAIA Lewis-Clark State last Saturday in Boise on the same day as the Boise State encounter.
Saturday's match-up with the Mavs will be their home opener.
The Bengals went 10-14 and were 2-5 in Big Sky Conference play last year, falling to Northern Arizona in the second round of the Big Sky Tournament.
They were picked third in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Victor Sklenka has played in the No. 1 singles spot of second year coach Oliver Good's lineup all three times thus far and has gone 1-2. Valentino De Pellegrin, Andreas Kramer and Wikus Robbertse have all gone 2-1 at No. 2, 3 and 5, respectively as the Bengals have gone a combined 9-9 in their individual singles matches so far this spring.
They are also a combined 5-3 in doubles as Ege Cankus and Hiroki Fujita had gone 2-0 at No. 3 after having their match against a UNLV pair go unfinished.
De Pellegrin and Sklenka are 1-1 in the top flight while Kramer and Patrick Kristensen are 1-0 at No. 1 and 1-2 overall.
The Mavs are 0-4 all-time against the Bengals having played them early in Pocatello in three of the last five spring seasons (2019, 2020, 2022). The two teams also played a 2002 neutral-stie match in Phoenix, which the Bengals won.
About the Blues
The NCAA Division III Whitman College Blues will begin their spring campaign this weekend and are due to play Lewis-Clark State and Idaho State on Saturday before facing the Mavs.
Hanri Luo defeated teammate William Lanstra to win the B draw at the ITA Fall Northwest Regional Championship while Cameron Yang reached the semifinals of the main draw. The Blues also had two teams in the semifinals at that fall tournament.
Yang ended the fall ranked 16
th in the ITA Division III Northwest Regional Singles Rankings. Artem Manov and Charlie Rush are ranked 10
th in the doubles listing.
In 2023, the Blues went 5-17 overall and were 4-3 in Northwest Conference matches. They fell 5-4 to Pacific University in their opening match of the conference tournament.
Jeff Northam has been the Blues' head coach since 1997 and has guided them to 15 NCAA Tournament bids, including an Elite 8 appearance in 2016. They have also won 14 Northwest Conference crowns under his direction.
Up Next
As mentioned in the earlier note, the Mavericks will head to Nebraska next weekend to play four indoor matches in the University of Nebraska-Kearney's Ernest Grundy Tennis Center. The Mavs are due to face William Jewell next Thursday (Feb. 8), the host Lopers and Rockhurst next Friday (Feb. 9) and ITA National Ranking No. 20 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday (Feb. 10).
