GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After successful fall seasons, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's and women's tennis teams will get their spring seasons underway this weekend as both squads will play a pair of matches at NCAA Division I Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, in a trip that has been included on many of the Mavs' early season schedules in recent years.
The Maverick men will play the Bengals twice on Saturday, first playing at 9:30 a.m. before a 6 p.m. night cap. In between, the CMU women will take on ISU at 2 p.m.
The women's teams will then match-up again on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. to wrap-up the weekend.
All four matches will be played in the Bengals' Reed Gym.
Live results can be found via IOnCourt at the links below.
Daily recaps will also be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com.
Fall Recap (Men)
The Maverick men posted a perfect 3-0 record in their lone dual weekend of the fall season at the Pueblo Duals on Sept. 13-14. The Mavericks defeated Nebraska-Kearney, Lubbock Christian and Newman on those days.
They played in two individual tournaments in September, playing at the Colorado College Invitational on Sept. 7-8 and at the ITA West Regional Championships.
William Leschig and
Henry Scheck advanced to the semifinal round of the main draw at the ITA event while
Emil Hultman reached the consolation final in singles play.
Leschig and Scheck posted a 4-5 doubles record throughout the fall to lead the Mavs, but were 0-3 in the top spot of the Maverick lineup in the duals.
Scheck went a team-best 8-2 in singles action throughout the fall, including a 3-0 mark at No. 2 singles in the Pueblo Duals. Hultman was 6-3 overall and a perfect 3-0 at No. 5 throughout the fall while Leschig went 4-4 overall, including a 2-1 dual meet mark in the top flight during the Pueblo Duals.
Fall Recap (Women)
The Maverick women played a similar fall schedule, going 2-2 in the Pueblo Duals, claiming team wins over Newman and Fort Hays State on Sunday, Sept. 14 after being defeated 7-0 by Nebraska-Kearney and Lubbock Christian on Friday, Sept. 13.
At the ITA Regional,
Makenna Livingston and
Devyn Rodriguez both advanced to the Round of 32 in singles while
Delia Maier reached the consolation round of 16.
Rodriguez and Maverick newcomer
Jade Brilhante were also able to reach the Round of 16 in the main doubles draw. They went a team-best 6-3 as a partnership throughout the fall and went 3-1 in dual action during the Pueblo Duals.
Maier led the Mavericks with four singles wins (4-7) as she and Livingston (3-4) and Rodriguez (3-5) all went 1-3 in dual meet action in the top three spots of the Maverick lineup.
Regional Ranking
Thanks largely to their semifinal appearance at the ITA West Regional Championships,
the Maverick doubles duo of William Leschig and Henry Scheck ended the fall season ranked fourth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NCAA Division II West Region doubles rankings.
Probable Lineup
Here is a look at Maverick Head Coach
Dan MacDonald's probable lineup for this week's duals, including each players' overall fall and early season dual meet marks.
The lineups are very similar to what MacDonald used at the Pueblo Duals in the fall.
Men
Singles
1.
William Leschig (4-4/2-1 in duals)
2.
Henry Scheck (8-2/3-0)
3.
Romain Payan (4-5/1-2)
4.
Emil Hultman (6-3/3-0)
5.
Philemon Jabin (3-3/2-1)
6.
Diogo Manzano (1-2/0-0)
Exhibitions/Reserves:
Jamison Pfingston (3-3),
Luke Burriesci (1-1)
Doubles
1. Leschig/Scheck (4-5/0-3)
2. Hultman/Jabin (1-3/1-2)
3. Manzano/Payan or Pfingston*
*Manzano is 0-1 with both partners
Women
Singles
1.
Makenna Livingston (3-4/1-3 in duals)
2.
Devyn Rodriguez (3-5/2-2)
3.
Delia Maier (4-7/1-3)
4.
Catalina Ballon Marin (1-6/1-3)
5.
Jade Brilhante (3-6/2-2)
6.
Jane Steur (2-3/2-2-2)
Exhibitions/Reserves:
Kayla Huish (3-2/0-1),
Audrey O'Rear (2-1)
Doubles
1. Brilhante/Rodriguez (6-3/3-1)
2. Livingston/Maier (3-4/2-2)
3. Ballon Marin/Steur (2-3/2-2)
Exhibitions/Reserves: Huish/O'Rear (
Have not played together)
Road Warriors
As has been the case in many previous years, the Mavericks will again be road warriors, especially in the first half of the spring making trips to Idaho, Nebraska and Arizona in three February road trips over a span of four weeks.
The men's and women's paths then slightly diverge with the CMU women playing at Division I Utah Tech on Mar. 7 while the men will have a home doubleheader on Mar. 9 against Hawai'i Hilo.
Both Maverick teams will then go on an extended Spring Bread road trip to California where the Mavs' will meet up with seven women's and six men's foes from the Pacific West Conference, in a stretch that will largely determine the Mavs' qualification hopes for the PacWest Championships.
On the opening weekend of April (Apr. 4-5), both Maverick teams will be at home to face MSU Denver, Colorado College while the CMU women will also play CSU Pueblo at home.
The Mavs then return the trips on Apr. 11-13 on the front range before the PacWest Championships begin on Apr. 16 (women) and Apr. 17 (men) in Surprise, Arizona.
The Mavs' complete schedules can be seen here (
MEN |
WOMEN).
Know You Foe
Idaho State (Men)
The Idaho State Bengal men began their spring season last Saturday, dropping a pair of decisions at Utah in Salt Lake City by 4-3 and 4-0 margins. They will also be in Boise, Idaho to face Eastern Washington and Baise State this Friday before hosting the Mavs in their home openers on Saturday.
The No. 1 doubles duo of Valentino De Pellegrin and Victor Sklenka were victorious in both matches against the Utes while Hayden Ciguenza and Lewie Bouman also won at No.3 to give the Bengals the opening doubles point against the Utes.
In singles, Sklenka and Bouman claimed wins at No. 2 and 6 in the first dual to lead the Bengals.
In 2023-24, the Bengals had a 14-10 overall record including a 5-3 Big Sky Conference mark. They also advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed before falling to No. 2 seed Sacramento State.
Idaho State (Women)
The Bengal women also opened their spring season last weekend, falling at Boise State by a 7-0 margin on Friday before bouncing back for a 7-0 win over NAIA Lewis-Clark State on Saturday.
Nearly all of their individual players went 1-1 in both singles and doubles play with losses to Boise State and wins over Lewis-Clark State.
Last year's ISU team went 13-6 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky Conference match-ups to earn the program's first every Big Sky Regular Season Championship. They were the top seed for the Big Sky Tournament but were upset 4-3 by No. 5 seed Weber State in the semifinals.
A look at the rivalry
The Idaho State men hold a 5-0 all-time series lead over the Mavericks and have won four straight February match-ups in Pocatello since and including 2019. That includes 7-0 decisions in 2019, 2022 and 2024 and a 6-1 win in February of 2020.
The Bengal women are 6-0 against the Mavs, winning four straight 7-0 decisions over a span of the past four years, two of which were in 2021.
Up Next
Both Maverick teams will be off next week before heading south to Arizona for matches on Feb. 14-15 in metropolitan Phoenix.
The Mavs will play NCAA Division II Western New Mexico as well as NAIA foes Arizona Christian and Ottawa (Ariz.) over those two days.
