GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After splitting their spring-season openers on 7-0 margins against teams from outside their division, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick tennis teams will return to NCAA Division II play when they head to Kearney, Nebraska for a series of weekend indoor matches in the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center.
 
The Maverick men, now 1-2 on the season, and women, 3-2 in 2023-24, will both begin their weekend on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. Mountain) against William Jewell from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  They will then face off with the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association's Nebraska-Kearney in the Lopers' home facility at 12:20 p.m. CST (11:20 a.m. Mountain) on Friday before squaring off with another GLVC foe in Rockhurst that evening at 5:30 p.m. CST (4:30 p.m. Mountain).  The Mavericks will then wrap up the weekend against nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri State, also from the MIAA, on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CST (8 a.m. Mountain).
 
Many of those start times are a slight change from previously scheduled start times.
 
Daily recaps of the Mavs' efforts will be posted on www.cmumavericks.com each evening and fans can follow the Maverick Tennis Instagram page for an inside look at the team.
 
There will also be a simple live stream from the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center, which can be accessed at this link.
 
Match Formats
 
Each of the Mavericks' duals will be played with the men's and women's doubles matches beginning concurrently on six total courts.  Those matches will be played to "clinch".  The men's singles matches will then begin on six courts while the women rest.  The women's singles matches will then begin after a brief 5-minute warm-up as the courts open.  CMU's singles matches on Thursday and Friday will also be played to clinch.  Saturday's singles matches will all be played out.
 
There are also some other duals between the participating teams throughout what will be a busy weekend of collegiate tennis in the state of the art facility.
 
Last Time Out
 
Both Maverick teams went 1-1 last weekend during their trip to Pocatello, Idaho.  Both Maverick squads lost 7-0 decisions to NCAA Division I Idaho State on Saturday but rallied for 7-0 neutral-court victories in ISU's Reed Gym on Sunday.  The Maverick men defeated NCAA Division III Whitman College from Walla Walla, Washington that day while the CMU women defeated The College of Idaho Yotes, an NAIA program from Caldwell that afternoon.
 
Complete recaps of all four duals can be found below.
 
Men vs. Idaho State (Idaho State 7, CMU 0)
Women vs. Idaho State (Idaho State 7, CMU 0)
Men vs. Whitman (CMU 7, Whitman 0)
Women vs. College of Idaho (CMU 7, College of Idaho 0)
 
Winning Marks
 
With a  3-2 team mark, the Maverick women have also begun their 2023-24 seasons with individuals success.  CMU has a 3-2 mark in doubles matches in each of the three flights during duals and is 16-9 overall when including the tournament records.
 
The senior/freshman duo of Julianna Campos and Devyn Rodriguez is a team-best 6-3 and is ranked eighth in the ITA's West Region rankings.
 
Issy Coman and Makenna Livingston are ranked tenth and have a 4-3 doubles record as a duo.  They are 2-2 in duals at the No. 1 spot.
 
In singles, the Mavericks have a winning 34-32 cumulative record and have a winning record in five of the six flights in dual matches.
 
Rodriguez leads the way with an 8-4 overall and 4-1 dual record in the No. 3 position behind Coman, who is ranked 19^th in the ITA's West Region Rankings, and Livingston, CMU's only previous All-Pac West selection.
 
Dual Debuts
 
Maverick newcomers Axel Scholl and Shawn Springer both made their dual debuts last weekend in Idaho each got to play one match at No. 6 singles.  Scholl, a freshman out of Germany, dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision against Division I Idaho State while Springer, who transferred from Hastings College, got the nod against Whitman, responding to claim a 3-set win, his first singles triumph as a Mav.  He and School did go 1-1 in doubles during the Colorado College Invitational during the fall.
 
About the Opponents (Men)
 
William Jewell
 
The Cardinals are 4-1 on the season and picked up home wins over NAIA Baker (Kan.) and NCAA Division II and GLVC foe Maryville last weekend to begin the spring. 
 
Ugnius Bickauskis won both of his No. 1 singles matches over the weekend after ending the fall season ranked 11^th in the ITA's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings as the only ranked man on coach Ben Ford's squad.
 
The Cardinals also won all five of their doubles matches over the weekend, sweeping Baker before winning both the No. 1 and 2 doubles affairs against Maryville.  The teams did not play a No. 3 doubles nor No. 5 or 6 singles matches in that match-up.
 
They went 9-17 last year and were picked last amongst five teams in the GLVC West Division Preseason Poll.
 
Nebraska-Kearney
 
The Lopers resumed their program this season after a 5-season hiatus and feature a roster of six freshman and three transfers, all of which hail from outside of the United States.   They are 1-2 this season and having defeated Doane by a 6-1 margin last Saturday while dropping 4-3 decisions to MSU Denver and Pratt (Kan.) Community College on Friday and Sunday, respectively. 
 
The win over Doane was the program's first since 2018 because of the discontinuation of the men's program following the 2017-18 season.    The Lopers won five of their six singles matches against Doane in straight sets and were also able to sweep the doubles matches. 
 
They also won the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles matches against MSU Denver but dropped the three doubles matches and three close matches in the top flights in what was their first dual of the year after having competed in several individual tournaments in the fall.
 
Maksym Kulish, one of the Loper freshman, ended the fall ranked third in the ITA's Central Regional Rankings and was tabbed 12th nationally after having reached the ITA Cup as an at-large qualifier.  Tom Van Den Dungen and Aaron Osmond were ranked tenth in the regional doubles rankings. 
 
The Lopers were picked third in the MIAA/GAC North Division Preseason Poll.
 
Rockhurst
 
The Hawk men won their only fall dual by a 7-0 margin over William Jewell and will begin the spring season against the Mavs.  They were a sold 13-8 last year and advanced to the GLVC Tournament semifinals before being downed by powerhouse Indianapolis.
 
First Team All-GLVC pick Louis Keiner returns for his junior season after going 9-9 at No. 1 singles last year while Agustin Cortes will look to duplicate his doubles success with a new partner after going 17-2 alongside now departed Felipe Castellanos.  Cortes also co-led the Hawks in singles wins last year with 13, playing everywhere from the second to fifth flights.
 
They were picked third out of five teams in the GLVC's West Division Preseason Poll.
 
Northwest Missouri State
 
The nation's 20^th-ranked Bearcats are off to a 1-0 start after defeating Missouri-St. Louis by a 4-2 count on Saturday in an indoor match in St. Joseph, Mo.  They won the No. 1 and 3 doubles matches and received wins from Andrea Zamurri, Michael Delebois and Vinnie Rodriguez at No. 1, 3 and 6 singles matches.
 
Zamurri leads three Bearcats in the ITA's Central Region Singles rankings at No. 9 ahead of No. 10 Mason Meier and No. 15 Jen Skerbatis.  Skerbatis and Delebois were also ranked fifth in doubles although Delebois dropped his No. 2 match with another partner (Rafal Bednarczuk) in the dual with UMSL as Skerbatis did not feature.
 
Zamurri is 7-1 overall this season while Delebois is 5-3 in doubles and is one of three other Bearcat singles players with a winning 3-2 record.
 
The Bearcats went 15-7 overall last year and were 7-0 in conference play.  They did drop the MIAA/GAC tournament final to Washburn but still received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Round of 16.
 
 
About the Opponents (Women)
 
William Jewell
 
The Cardinal women are 3-3 overall and went 1-2 on the opening weekend of the spring after playing on three straight days.  They dropped a 7-0 road decision to 21^st-ranked Missouri Western State on Friday before bouncing back for a 7-0 home win over Baker on Saturday.  Then then fell 5-2 to Maryville on Saturday.
 
Julia Rabiej and Julia Santos both went 2-1 during the week, winning easy decisions over Baker before winning 3-set decisions against Maryville. The Cardinals were also able to sweep the doubles matches against Baker but went 0-6 in the duals against Division II opposition.
 
The 2022-23 edition of the Cardinals finished 8-15 overall and have been picked fifth out of six in the GLVC West Division Preseason Poll.
 
Nebraska-Kearney
 
The Loper women will open up their spring this weekend playing three matches, the second of which will come against the Mavericks in a Friday doubleheader.  They ended up playing just one dual in the fall, defeating CSU Pueblo 4-1 on Sept. 14 while their remaining Pueblo Duals matches, including one against the Mavs, were canceled due to rain.
 
They have three nationally-ranked singles players on the roster in No. 9 Jazmin Zamorano, No. 32 Melisa Becerra and No. 49 Fabiana Gamboa.  Zamorano qualified for the ITA Cup last October and reached the consolation semifinals while going 1-2 after winning the ITA Central Regional Championships, where four Lopers reached the quarterfinals of the "A" draw.
 
Zamorano ended the fall ranked second in the ITA Central Regional Rankings while Becerra and Gamboa were fifth and sixth.  Juniors Narindra Ranaivo and Alexis Bernthal also checked in in the No. 12 and 20 spots of the regional singles rankings while Becerra and Ranaivo were tabbed fourth amongst ten ranked doubles teams.
 
The Lopers went 14-11 last year and were picked third in the MIAA Preseason Poll.
 
Rockhurst
 
The Hawks will enter Friday's encounter with a 1-0 record from the fall and will open their spring season against the Mavs.  They defeated William Jewell by a 6-1 score in their lone fall dual and enjoyed some individual tournament success as freshman Ella Coleman and sophomore Sofia Valdespino both won their first two matches tor each the Round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional.  They were ranked 11^th and 17^th in the ITA Midwest Regional Rankings thanks in large part to those efforts.
 
Valdespino and Marina Magai both return as First Team All-GLVC picks both from last year's 10-11 squad.  This year's team has been picked third out of six teams in the GLVC West Division Preseason Poll and received one first place vote.
 
Northwest Missouri State
 
The Bearcat women were ranked 17^th in the initial set of ITA National Team Rankings and are off to a 1-0 dual start having defeated Missouri-St. Louis by a 5-1 scoreline on Saturday. 
 
Regionally ranked singles players Tessa Kwakernaak (8^th), Marielena Muench (13^th) and Carolina Lime De Oliveria (19^th) all featured in last Saturday's dual with DeOliveria falling in three sets at No. 1 while Kwakernaak and Muench both claimed straight set wins at No. 1 and 3, respectively.
 
Sofia Pignatero and De Oliveria were also ranked eighth in the Central Region's doubles rankings and were tied 4-4 in their unfinished No. 1 match against the Tritons after their teammates clinched the doubles point.
 
Pignatero and De Oliveria both have 5-2 singles records to co-lead the team this year while Muench has a strong 4-1 doubles record for the Bearcats, who have won 10 of 15 total doubles matches in 2023-24.
 
Last year's Bearcat squad went 18-5 overall and was a perfect 8-0 in MIAA play but dropped both their MIAA and NCAA Tournament matches at the end of the season.
 
Series Histories (Men)
 
The Maverick men are a combined 11-24 all-time against their four opponents this week.
 
In their first and so far only meeting with William Jewell, the Mavs defeated the Hawks by a 5-2 margin on Feb. 11 last season in Kearney but dropped a 5-0 decision to Rockhurst in 2011 in the only previous match-up with the Hawks, a match that was also played in Kearney.
 
The Mavs are 0-4 all-time against Northwest Missouri State but have not faced the Bearcats since 2016 in their only match-up since 2008.
 
The Mavs are 10-19 against the Nebraska-Kearney during the previous phase of the Lopers' history, which included shared Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference history.  The last meeting was in the fall of 2017.  UNK won the last 11 match-ups.  CMU's last win was in 2010.
 
Series Histories (Women)
 
The Mavs are a combined 16-27 against three of their four opponents this week and will face William Jewell for the first time on Friday.
 
The Mavs' only previous meeting with Rockhurst was in 2011 and went to the Hawks by a 5-1 score in Kearney.  CMU is 0-3 all-time against Northwest Missouri State, having played the Bearcats in 2003, 2008 and 2016.
 
The Mavs history with Nebraska-Kearney is much more extensive as the former RMAC rivals have met 39 previous times with UNK winning 26 of them, including 13 of the last 14.  The two teams have played at least once every academic year since the 2014-15 campaign missing just one season since 1996.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will play their first outdoor matches of the spring when they head to what should be warmer weather in metropolitan Phoenix where they will play against Western New Mexico and at NAIA foes Arizona Christian and Ottawa University Arizona on Feb. 16 and 17.