GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The playoffs begin early for the Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team, which will play a must-win match at arch-rival MSU Denver on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Roadrunners' Assembly Athletic Complex in Downtown Denver.
The Mavericks, 7-12 overall, will enter the match well-rested after last playing on Mar. 21, when they won for the second time in as many days over Jessup to close out their 5-match spring break swing through California with the neutral-court win in Fresno.
The Roadrunners are 7-11 overall and have won two straight, winning on Mar. 22 in Fresno over Point Loma before picking up a road win at NCAA Division III Colorado College on Saturday.
The Maverick women will also play a key match-up with the Roadrunners at the same time on Friday before heading to Pueblo for a Sunday morning encounter at CSU Pueblo.
Last Time Out
The Maverick men went 2-3 during their 5-match, 4-day swing through California from Mar. 18-21, winning a 5-2 decision over Pacific West Conference newcomer Westmont in Santa Barbara on Mar. 20 before capping the trip with a 4-1 win over NAIA Jessup a day later in Fresno.
The Mavs also dropped decisions to nationally-ranked Point Loma (43
rd) and Hawai'i Hilo (39
th) to begin the trip in San Diego and Azusa, respectively. They were also beaten 4-0 at Fresno Pacific on the morning of Mar. 21.
Maverick sophomore
Emil Hultman led the Mavs during the week, going 3-1 in singles play with one other unfinished match in a third set. He and doubles partner
Philemon Jabin also went 2-1 and were level in two other unfinished doubles matches.
Jorge Abreu also had a solid week, going 2-1 in singles and 2-3 in doubles, playing four times with
Diogo Manzano and another with
William Leschig.
Complete recaps from all four of the Mavericks' days in California are posted below.
Why it Matters
The results of Friday's dual will almost certainly determine if the Mavericks or Roadrunners will claim the eighth and final tournament spot in this month's Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament.
The Roadrunners are currently ranked eighth in the
latest PacWest rankings, released by the conference on Wednesday. The Mavs are ranked ninth and head-to-head results is the highest criteria point used by the rankings committee to determine the weekly rankings.
The committee, which includes administrative representatives from all four geographical pods of the conference, including representatives both CMU and MSU Denver, will meet again on Monday (Apr. 8) to determine the final list of eight men's qualifiers. The final 1-8 seeding will then be determined on the following Sunday (Apr. 14) in advance of the tournament that begins on Apr. 18 for the men with the 12-team women's competition beginning a day before on Wednesday, Apr. 17.
The Mavs and Roadrunners will play again on Apr. 13 in Grand Junction and the results of that dual will be included in the seeding discussion. However, that result will come after the qualification determination, which in turn makes this week's match-up critically important.
The Maverick men qualified for the 2021 PacWest Tournament in their initial year of affiliate membership in the conference for men's and women's tennis but have missed out on qualification in the past two years. The Roadrunner men have qualified all three years since joining the league alongside the Mavs, going 1-2 and finishing sixth as that seed during the 2023 PacWest Tournament, the end of an otherwise strong 15-5 season.
Final Road Trip
Friday's encounter will the Mavs' final road trip of the regular season and the final true road match of the season. The Mavericks have played just one home doubleheader throughout the entire 2023-24 season and have made trips to Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona and California on two separate occasions this spring.
In the fall, they played at the Colorado College Invitational in Colorado Springs, a neutral dual in Pueblo and at the ITA West Regional Championships in Fresno, California.
The Mavs were originally scheduled to also play at Colorado College on Saturday of this weekend trip, but that match has been canceled.
The Maverick men have posted a 4-4 record in neutral-court match-ups and are 3-6 when playing as the true road team this season. MSU Denver has also played almost entirely away from home, going 4-5 on the road and 3-4 in neutral match-ups.
Like the Mavs, they are also 0-2 at home, having lost twice to Hawai'i Hilo, which also came to Grand Junction to post two wins over the Mavericks during the Vulcans' Colorado swing.
Swedish leader
Maverick sophomore
Emil Hultman, who hails from Värnamo, Sweden, leads the Mavericks with a 13-7 singles record and is also a team-best 10-6 in duals, having played in the No. 4 and 5 spots. He has won three straight decisions and is 6-2 in his last ten starts with four other unfinished matches.
Hultman also has the Mavs' best doubles record at 11-8 overall. He is 10-6 in doubles during duals, going 10-5 with
Philemon Jabin. The duo is 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, a strong point for the Mavericks, who have posted a combined 22-32 doubles record (.407) in duals this season.
The Quest for 10
Although Hultman is the only Maverick to have reached double-figures for singles wins so far this season, teammates
William Leschig and
Diogo Manzano could both reach that mark on Friday. Manzano is 9-12 overall and 5-9 in duals while Leschig is 9-15 overall and 5-12 in duals.
Leschig could also reach 10 wins for doubles and sports a 9-14 overall doubles record, including a 6-13 dual-meet mark at No. 1 (4-11) and 2 (2-2) with two different partners in
Jorge Abreu and
Henry Scheck.
About the Roadrunners
As mentioned earlier, the Roadrunners are 7-11 overall. They are 2-6 against PacWest foes having played a very similar schedule to the Mavs, who are 1-7 against their conference opponents.
MSU Denver's lone common opponent victory from within the conference came over Point Loma Nazarene.
Individually, Juho Kantola leads the Roadrunners. He is 16-7 overall and 11-5 in in duals, including an 8-4 mark at No. 2 and a 3-1 record in spot starts in the top flight. Jeanloup Auzias (7-15 overall) and Alejandro Jimenez (8-12 overall) have also played in the No. 1, 2 and 3 spots this season.
Marco Jalalian is also 7-8 overall and in duals. He is 7-6 at No. 4 and has won his last four decisions.
In doubles, Auzias and Jimenez have compiled an 11-6 record as a partnership at No. 2. Jalalian and Kantola are 8-7 together at No. 1.
Allesandro Munoz and Reid Rainwater the most common No. 3 doubles duo but have dropped their last 11 decisions after winning their last three.
Previous Match-Ups
Although the Mavericks and Roadrunners have not yet faced each other in a team match-up, they have had several individual match-ups during the fall season individual tournaments.
At the ITA West Regionals, CMU's
William Leschig defeated the Roadrunners' Maximo Lawlor by a 6-1, 6-4 score in the consolation bracket's round of 16 en-route to the finals, where he was slated to play teammate
Diogo Manzano, a match that was never played.
In doubles, Kantola and Auzias defeated the Mavs'
Jorge Abreu and
Emil Hultman, 8-5.
At the Colorado College Invitational earlier in the fall, the Mavs went a combined 3-2 against Roadrunner players in singles encounters while the Roadrunners' Allesandro Munoz and Shane Garner picked up a "B" draw doubles win over the Mavs'
Shawn Springer and
Axel Scholl.
The two teams also scrimmaged during the Pueblo Duals in the fall, which were hit by rain throughout the weekend, forcing teams to schedule and play on the fly to get early season court time.
Series History
The Roadrunners have had the Mavs' number in recent year, winning the last 14 match-ups between the long-time rivals, who both played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference before the RMAC ceased men's tennis sponsorship. MSU Denver leads the overall series, 36-15 and is 17-5 against the Mavs in Denver.
The Mavs' last win was by a 5-4 score in Denver on Apr. 8, 2017. The Roadrunners then avenged that victory with a 5-4 win in the 2017 RMAC Tournament.
Up Next
Although Friday's encounter will largely determine the post-season hopes for both squads, they will face again next Saturday (Apr. 13) at 2 p.m. in Grand Junction in the regular season finale for both squads. The Mavs will also play host to Colorado College earlier that morning at 9 a.m. at the Elliott Tennis Center.
