GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Emil Hultman and
Jorge Abreu delivered singles wins while Abreu was one of four Mavericks to win a doubles match as the Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team put up valiant efforts against the University of Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans in a Sunday doubleheader at the Elliott Tennis Center.
The Vulcans won both matches that were played to clinch, 4-1, but were tested throughout as they completed a weekend sweep through Colorado. The Big Islanders had recorded 4-3 wins over No. 45 MSU Denver in the state capital on Friday and Saturday and improved to 4-2 on the season.
CMU fell to 5-9 overall and is now 0-4 against fellow Pacific West Conference foes.
Although, the Mavericks dropped the overall decisions, several of the individual matches were quite tight.
In the first dual, the Mavericks'
Henry Scheck and
Diogo Manzano claimed a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles before the Vulcans picked up 6-3 and 6-4 wins in the first two flights to seize the doubles point.
In singles, Hultman smoked Yu Jhe Du, 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5 to even the score before the Vulcans won the No. 1 and 6 matches in straight sets to take a 3-1 team lead.
Meanwhile, Hilo's Luca Matheiowetz was able to sneak past CMU's
Henry Scheck at No. 4 singles by a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) margin to clinch the victory.
Elsewhere, CMU's
Diogo Manzano had won the second set of his unfinished No. 3 singles affair while
William Leschig was down 7-5, 4-3 in a tight No. 2 affair against regionally-ranked Cian McDonnell.
The Mavericks shifted their lineup in the second dual to prevent re-matches and nearly pulled out the doubles point as Abreu and Leschig claimed a 6-4 win at No. 2 before Lamar Bartley and Ryo Minakata were able to get past Hultman and
Philemon Jabin by a 7-5 score at No. 1.
Meanwhile, the Vulcans' McDonnell and Coby Pearce needed a 7-2 tie-breaker win in the decisive third flight affair, besting Scheck and Manzano.
Minakata and Matheiowetz were then able to win at No. 1 and 4 singles to put the Vulcans on the brink of the doubleheader sweep, which Abreu delayed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Pearce at No. 6 singles.
Bartley then clinched the dual with a 7-6 (9-7) win over Scheck at No. 3 singles.
The other two matches were both early in the third sets as Jabin and Hultman both won the opening sets of their matches against McDonnell and Filippo Di Perna, respectively.
Maverick redshirt sophomore
Jamison Pfingston was also able to win an exhibition singles match during the first dual, taking down Pearce, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4).
The Mavericks will meet the Vulcans again in nine days when they will play on Tuesday, Mar. 19 in a neutral-site match-up in Azusa, California. That match will be the second of five in a Maverick spring break swing through California from Mar. 18-Mar. 21.
