GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After spending the past two weekends indoors, the Colorado Mesa University tennis teams will make what is becoming an annual February pilgrimage to Phoenix, Arizona and its suburbs for what should be some warm-weather match-ups.
The Maverick men and women will both play three duals on Friday and Saturday. They will be in Glendale and at the Paseo Racquet Center on Friday, taking on former conference rival Western New Mexico at 11 a.m. before facing NAIA Arizona Christian that afternoon at 4 p.m.
The Mavs will then head to Surprise to face another NAIA opponent in the Ottawa University of Arizona Spirit on Saturday at 10 a.m. Those matches will be played at Valley Vista High School (15550 N. Parkway Place; Surprise, AZ 85374), a recent location change.
Daily recaps of the Mavs' efforts will be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com each evening and fans can follow the
Maverick Tennis Instagram page (CMUTennis) for an inside look at the team.
Last Time Out
The Maverick squads made the trip to Kearney, Nebraska last week and both played a series of four matches during a busy weekend inside the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center.
The Maverick men went 2-2, picking up wins over Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents William Jewell and Rockhurst, both of which hail from the Kansas City, Missouri area. The CMU women went 1-3, starting off their trip with a Thursday night win over William Jewell before falling to host Nebraska-Kearney, Rockhurst and nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri State on Friday and Saturday.
Emil Hultman led the Maverick men, going 2-1 at No. 5 singles while pairing with
Philemon Jabin for a 3-0 record at No. 2 doubles throughout the weekend. Hultman was also a set and 4-3 up in an unfinished singles match against Nebraska-Kearney and was tied at 5 in another unfinished doubles match with the Lopers during Friday afternoon's dual that was played to clinch.
Henry Scheck also went 2-1 at No. 4 singles and clinched the Mavs' 4-3 win over Rockhurst on Friday evening. Four other Mavs also won a singles match throughout the weekend as Jabin fought off a match-point at No. 1 singles to clinch the Mavs' 4-2 win over William Jewell on Thursday night.
Freshman
Devyn Rodriguez led the Maverick women, going 2-1 in singles play, including a 2-0 mark at No. 3 singles. She also made her first career start in the top flight as the Mavs rested their normal No. 1 and 2 players against 17
th-ranked Northwest Missouri State and picked up a doubles win alongside
Julianna Campos in the Mavs' 5-0 win over William Jewell on Thursday night.
The CMU women are now 4-5 during the 2023-24 season, including a 2-4 record this month. The CMU men are now 3-4 overall and are 3-3 in February and the spring portion of the campaign.
Complete Recaps from the weekend can be found at these links:
On a Streak
Sophomore
Emil Hultman and junior
Philemon Jabin have won their last four doubles matches as partners. They went 3-0 at No. 2 doubles over the weekend in Kearney and one other match left unfinished. They are now 4-1 as a pair this spring after playing with different partners during the fall.
Hultman is now 5-4 overall in doubles while Jabin is 5-5 this year.
The First to Ten
Maverick freshman
Devyn Rodriguez, who will return to her home state this weekend, became the first Maverick tennis player— male or female— to reach the 10-win mark in singles play this season. The Chandler, Arizona native and Chandler High School product is now 10-5 in singles after going 2-1 last weekend in Kearney. She is also an impressive 6-1 in duals while in the No. 3 position.
Back to Arizona
The Mavericks have been regular visitors to the metropolitan Phoenix area in recent years having made an annual February trip in each of the past three years, where they have been able to renew the rivalry with NCAA Division II foe Western New Mexico in neutral-court affairs while picking up other matches against the NAIA foes in Arizona Christian and Ottawa University of Arizona.
The Maverick women enjoyed success on the previous trips, going a combined 7-2 on this trip in the last three years. The CMU men have not been quite as successful, going 3-6.
Know Your Foes (Men)
Western New Mexico
The Mustangs are 1-1 this spring after falling 7-0 to Division I New Mexico in a Super Bowl Sunday match-up. They had squeaked out a 4-3 win over Division III Colorado College on the previous Sunday (Feb. 4) in a match that was also played in Albuquerque. They took the doubles point and then won matches at No. 3, 4 and 5 singles against the Tigers.
WNMU will also play Arizona Christian on Thursday before Friday's neutral-court encounter.
Last year's Mustang squad went 5-11 overall and 2-6 in Lone Star Conference play under then interim coach Jesus Baltazar, who was promoted to the full time position in the summer. They dropped their LSC Tournament quarterfinal to UT Tyler.
Arizona Christian
The Firestorm are currently 1-1 and will host Western New Mexico on Thursday before facing the Mavs. They picked up a 5-4 win over Occidental before falling 5-2 to new PacWest member Westmont to begin their spring season this past weekend.
Hugo Abril won both of his No. 1 singles matches and teamed with Jonas Wand and Adrian Smith for doubles victories over the weekend. Lennert Lemahieu and Smith also claimed singles wins at No. 3 and 4, respectively. The Firestorm were also a combined 4-2 in their doubles matches.
The Firestorm begin the spring with three men ranked amongst the top 50 of the ITA's NAIA rankings, a group led by Abril, who is ranked 21
st. Wand occupies the No. 35 spot while Lemahieu sits 49
th. Abril and Wand are also ranked 11
th as a doubles duo.
In the ITA's NAIA West Regional rankings, Abril, Wand and Lemahieu are all amongst the top 10 at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 8, respectively. Smith is also ranked 14
th while Abril and Wand are second in the region for doubles.
Coach Phil Carlisle's team was also receiving votes in the NAIA's Official Coache's Preseason Top 25 Poll, released back in August. A new poll is slated for release on Wednesday.
Last year's Firestorm squad finished 8-8 overall with a 5-2 mark in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings. They then went 1-1 in the GSAC Tournament, falling 4-3 to Westmont in the semifinals.
Ottawa University of Arizona
The Spirit have yet to play this spring but have a busy week ahead playing NCAA Division I UC Riverside on Tuesday and Western New Mexico on Friday.
They have a new look roster with five freshmen and two returning juniors in Saul Bautista and Noah Koeroessy. Those two went a combined 3-20 in single play last year.
The Spirit were 2-11 as a team last year and went 1-6 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. They lost to Westmont in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
Know Your Foes (Women)
Western New Mexico
The Mustang women are currently 0-1 having dropped their only official match-up, 4-3 against Division III Colorado College on Feb. 3. The Mustangs have also lost 7-0 exhibition match-ups to Division I UTEP, New Mexico State and New Mexico.
The Mustangs won both the No. 1 and 2 singles matches in thee sets against the Colorado College Tigers but dropped the No. 3, 4 and 5 singles affairs. They also got a win at No. 2 doubles but were not able to fill their lineup, defaulting at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles, which proved costly.
Last year's Mustang squad went 6-11 but dropped the last seven of the campaign.
Arizona Christian
The Firestorm are off to a 2-0 start this season, defeating the College of Idaho by a 7-0 score on Jan. 31 before getting past the OUAZ Spirit by a 5-2 margin on Feb. 3.
The Firestorm have combined for an 11-1 singles record in those two duals. They also went 4-2 in doubles.
They will play Western New Mexico on Thursday before meeting the Mavs.
Deondra Bacchus is ranked 39
th nationally in singles, according to the ITA's NAIA National Rankings while she and Vittoria Quadri are ranked 24
th in doubles.
Bacchus and Quadri are also ranked sixth and tenth at the regional level while Madeline Monroy and Ella Lavender are 14
th and 17
th, respectively in the ITA's NAIA West Regional rankings. Bacchus and Quadri are ranked fifth in doubles while Monroy and Karla Grobbelaar are right behind in sixth.
However, the pairings have been different so far this spring with Bacchus and Monroy going 1-1 together at No. 1 while Quadri and Grobbelaar have teamed to win both of their No. 3 matches.
Last year's Firestorm squad finished 3-11 and fell to Westmont in the opening round of the GSAC Tournament after going 1-4 conference play during the regular season.
Ottawa University of Arizona
The Spirit are currently 0-2, having dropped a 4-3 decision to the College of Idaho on Jan. 30 before falling 5-2 to Arizona Christian in non-conference play on Feb. 3.
They are also due to face NCAA Division I UC Riverside on Tuesday morning and have a Golden State Athletic Conference re-match with Arizona Christian slated for later that afternoon, according to their schedule. However, ACU shows that match will be played on Feb. 23.
The Spirit will also play Western New Mexico on Friday before facing the Mavs.
Katherine Busani and Martina Anitch are ranked ninth and 13
th in the ITA's NAIA West Region rankings for singles. They are also ranked third as a doubles duo and stand 22
nd in the national rankings. They both won their singles matches against the College of Idaho as did Jelizaveta Govrova at No. 3. However, the Yotes won the other three singles matches and all three doubles affairs to take the win.
Busani was the lone singles winner in the earlier dual against Arizona Christian, according to the Firestorm's website. The Spirit also won the doubles points with victories in the top two flights.
OUAZ did not field a women's team last spring.
Series Histories (Men)
The Maverick men are a combined 11-24 all-time against their four opponents this week.
Western New Mexico has controlled the all-time series with the Mavs, winning 23 of 26 previous duals, including each of the past three match-ups over the last two years. Last year's match-up was decided by a 4-3 margin on Feb. 17.
The two teams have played at least once every spring dating back to 2006, with each of the last nine match-ups taking place on neutral courts in various locations, including the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The Mavs are 3-4 all-time against Arizona Christian but have dropped matches in the last two years. Their last win over the Firestorm came by a 4-3 margin on Feb. 13, 2021.
The Mavs picked up their first win in three tries over the OUAZ Spirit last year (Feb. 18), claiming a 4-3 win. The Spirit had won 6-1 and 4-1 decisions in the two previous years.
Series Histories (Women)
The Mavericks lead the series with Western New Mexico 20-8 and have won three of the last four and five of the last seven match-ups. WNMU triumphed 4-3 last year on Feb. 17.
The two teams have met every season since 2006 and used to be fierce Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals, who played in the RMAC Tournament championship match for four straight years from 2013-16 before the Mustangs left the conference.
CMU leads the all-time series with Arizona Christian by a 6-2 margin and claimed a pair of 7-0 victories over the Firestorm last season. The Mavs also won 6-1 and 7-0 decisions in the 2021 and 2022 and have dominated the recent rivalry after the two programs split four matches between 2013-18. All eight previous match-ups have been in various locations in the Phoenix area.
CMU and OUAZ have split the only two previous meetings between the teams. The Mavs claimed a 4-0 win on Feb. 12, 2021 before the Spirit won 6-1 on Feb. 11, 2022.
Up Next
After making three trips in as many weekends, the Mavs will get one weekend off before beginning a stretch of matches against PacWest Conference foes on Mar. 1 against Biola in La Mirada, Calif. On Mar. 1. They will also play at Azusa Pacific on the following day in Azusa Pacific in what will be their first of two trips to California that month.
