GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University tennis teams will begin a stretch of matches against fellow Pacific West Conference foes when they make their first of two upcoming trips to California this week.
The Mavericks are now slated to play at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa on Thursday at 2 p.m. PST (3 p.m. Mountain) in a match that was re-arranged from Saturday due to upcoming weather forecasts in southern California. The Mavs will then made the short trip to nearby La Mirada for a Friday afternoon match-up against Biola University, which is now slated for 11 a.m. PST (Noon Mountain) in efforts to beat the weather.
The Maverick women are now 7-5 on the season, including a 5-4 mark this spring. They have won three straight matches.
The CMU men are 5-5 overall and are also 5-4 in the spring portion of the season. They have won their last two duals.
Follow the Mavs
Both opponents will provide live results at the links above.
Biola will also have a simple live stream, accessible here.
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 were off last weekend after three straight busy weekends with long trips to Idaho, Nebraska and Arizona.
Both CMU squads enjoyed plenty of success in their latest trip to Arizona on Feb. 16-17. The Maverick women went a perfect 3-0, claiming a key Division II and "in-region" win over Western New Mexico University Mustangs in a neutral-site match-up against the Mustangs in Glendale on Friday, Feb. 16. The Mavs then won at NAIA Arizona Christian University by a 6-1 margin later that day before quickly dispatching of another NAIA foe in the Ottawa University of Arizona Spirit on Saturday, Feb. 17 in Surprise. The Mavs won that match, played to clinch, 4-0.
Meanwhile, the Maverick men went 2-1. They dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to Western New Mexico but rallied for 5-2 and 4-0 wins over the Firestorm and Sprit, respectively.
Complete recaps from all of the matches can be found at these links
PacWest Team of the Week
Thanks to their 3-0 weekend in Arizona, the Maverick women were named as
last week's PacWest Women's Tennis Team of the Week, announced on Feb. 20. The Mavericks had also won that award during the 2023 season on Apr. 3.
The Mavs won 13 of the 15 completed singles matches throughout the weekend, including a default win at No. 6 singles against the short-handed OUAZ Spirit. They were also leading the other three unfinished matches in that dual, which was played to clinch.
The Mavs also took the doubles point in the duals, taking two of the three doubles matches against both Arizona Christian and OUAZ. They dropped two of the three doubles matches against Western New Mexico, but rallied to win five of the six singles matches to comfortably win the dual.
On a Streak
The Maverick No. 2 doubles team of junior
Philemon Jabin and sophomore
Emil Hultman have been on a tear as of last, winning their last seven matches to improve to 7-1 on the year. They had played with different partners in the fall season but have certainly clicked in their new partnership.
Know Your Foes (Women)
Azusa Pacific
The Azusa Pacific Cougars are off to a 5-1 start this spring and are receiving votes in the latest ITA NCAA Division II Women's Top 25 Coaches Poll sponsored by Tennis-Point, which was released Wednesday morning.
They have won four straight matches since dropping a 4-3 decision to Point Loma on Feb. 10. They are 4-1 against other PacWest teams and were picked first in the PacWest's Preseason Poll, which was announced a month ago.
Last year's Cougar squad went 22-6 overall, reaching the championship match of the PacWest Championship tournament and the Round of 16 at the NCAA Division II Championships.
Cougar graduate student Cristiana Miruna Tudor was ranked16
th in the ITA's national singles rankings after the fall season while Madison Kane is ranked 21
st. Kane and San Diego State graduate transfer Julia Jordan were also ranked 24
th in doubles.
Kane has enjoyed a strong spring as well, going 4-1 at the No. 1 singles spot. Tudor is also 4-2 this spring while Jordan has a 3-1 mark, including a 3-0 record at No. 2 singles. Katherine Nguyen and Shannele Lopez are both 5-1 in the bottom of third of the Cougar lineup.
In doubles, Jordan has been playing with Vini Bautista this spring. They have gone a perfect 6-0 at No. 2 doubles. Kane and Tudor have a 4-1 record in the top flight while Nguyen and Lopez are 4-0 in the third flight.
Biola
The Eagles are currently 3-3 and are playing two matches in Surprise, Arizona against Ottawa and Arizona Christian on Wednesday. They have dropped their last two matches, falling 6-1 to Concordia and 5-2 to Point Loma, falling to 2-2 against PacWest foes.
On an individual basis, Colbeyshae Emery has posted a 2-2 record in the top flight of singles while Lilly McNeill has a 4-2 mark in the No. 2 spot.
In doubles, Brooke Fager and Alexandria Mann have a 3-2 record in the top flight while Emery and McNeill are 4-1 and riding a current 4-match winning streak at No. 2. Fager and Mann were ranked 11
th nationally in the ITA's doubles rankings after the fall season.
Last year's Eagle squad finished 6-13, but dropped their last five and nine of their last 11. Like the Mavs, they went 0-2 at the PacWest Championships.
Know Your Foes (Men)
Azusa Pacific
The Cougar men are off to a 6-0 start this spring and had one dual against Division I UC Riverside abandoned due to rain with the score tied 3-3.
They are receiving votes in the ITA's National Team Rankings, released on Wednesday, l and have four wins over PacWest foes thus far.
Elias Emilio Walter ended the fall season ranked 42
nd in the ITA singles rankings while he and Miha Velicki were ranked 12
th in the doubles rankings.
Last year's Cougar squad also fared well, especially at the end of the season. They finished 18-7 overall and claimed the PacWest Tournament title as the No. 3 seeds with wins over the top two seeds in Point Loma and Hawai'i Pacific in the semifinal and championship, respectively. The Cougars also beat Concordia in the NCAA West Regional and advanced to the Round of 16 at the national tournament.
Walter is 6-0 this spring, splitting time in the No. 1 and 2 flights with Velicki, who is 2-2 at No. 1 and 4-3 overall.
Soeren Grandke is also a strong 6-1 and a winner of six straight at No. 3 and 4 while Constantin Barth is also 6-0 at No. 5 and 6.
Biola
The Eagles are currently 3-2 and will play at Ottawa and Arizona Christian on the road on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, before returning home for Friday's encounter with the Mavs.
Nico Ramirez ended the fall ranked 14
th in the ITA's national singles rankings while he and Adrian Solorzano were ranked 19
th as a doubles duo.
Ramirez has backed that up this spring, going 4-0 in the top flight of the Eagles' singles lineup. Solorzano is 4-1 overall with a 3-1 record at No. 2 and a victory in one No. 1 start. Alejandro Flores Montaverde has also enjoyed a strong season, going 4-0 this spring at No. 4.
In doubles, Ramirez and Solorzano are 3-0 in the top flight. However, their other pairings are a combined 3-5.
Series Histories
Women
The Maverick women are 0-7 all-time against Azusa Pacific. All seven meetings have been played in Azusa.
The Mavs are 2-3 against Biola in their history, having dropped road matches in each of the last three springs. The Mavs had won in California during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
Men
The Mavericks are 0-8 all-time against the Cougars, having played seven of those matches in California. They also met in the opening round of the 2021 PacWest Tournament in what was CMU's first year as affiliate members of the conference.
The Mavs are 2-3 all-time against Biola and have lost in each of the last three years after winning in 2018 and 2019. All five previous match-ups have been played in La Mirada, California.
Up Next
The Mavericks will split their squads next week, sending the women to St. George, Utah to face now Division I Utah Tech next Saturday (Mar. 9). The CMU men will remain at home and will take on Hawai'i Hilo, now ranked 25
th for a Sunday, Mar. 10 doubleheader. Those matches will be the first home affairs of the Maverick men's season.
