GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's tennis team will play its only home matches of the season this Saturday hosting in-state rival Colorado College in a doubleheader at the Elliott Tennis Center.
The Mavs, winners of two of three last weekend in Arizona, will take on the Tigers at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
CMU is 3-5 as a team this spring against a mix of NCAA Division I, II and NAIA opposition, while the NCAA Division III Tigers will open their spring campaign this weekend. They are also considering the second match as an exhibition although both matches will count on the Mavs' overall record.
Special Weekend
The Mavericks are also holding a Tennis Alumni weekend in conjunction with this weekend's matches.
A full listing of events and the
RSVP link can be seen here.
In addition to the Mavericks' matches, CMU Head Coach
Dan MacDonald and his wife Tara will host a gathering at their house on Friday night.
Complimentary breakfast burritos will be served by culinary chef Wayne Smith, an avid Maverick tennis fan, on Saturday morning.
On Saturday afternoon at 1:15 p.m., MacDonald and CMU Senior Athletic Development Director Bryan Rooks will acknowledge reunion participants.
The Mavericks will also hold their Senior Day recognition as part of that ceremony, where they will honor six men and four women's team members who will graduate from the program later this spring.
The reunion weekend will then wrap up on Saturday night with a gathering at Kannah Creek Brewery across the street from the Elliott Tennis Center at 6:30 p.m.
Last Times Out
The Mavericks were in Arizona last weekend. A comeback against NCAA Division II Western New Mexico on Friday afternoon fell short as the Mavs lost 4-2 to the Mustangs. However, they
responded for a 4-1 win over NAIA Ottawa University of Arizona that evening.
The Mavs
then dominated Arizona Christian, ranked 22nd in the ITA's NAIA National Rankings, 4-0 on Saturday.
The Mavericks won nine of the 12 completed singles matches as
Emil Hultman went 3-0 at No. 3 while
Henry Scheck was 2-0 in the top flight.
Scheck and Leschig also went 2-1 in the top flight of doubles.
Everyone contributes
All Mavericks that made the trip to Arizona contributed at least one match win during the weekend.
Seniors
Emil Hultman,
William Leschig and
Henry Scheck all claimed four wins between their singles and doubles play.
Rare Home Weekend
As mentioned in the opening, the Mavericks will play their only two home matches of the season. The Mavs have already been to Idaho, Nebraska and Arizona for matches this spring and will head to Texas, California and Hawai'i later this spring along with a return trip to Colorado Springs to face Colorado College.
The road warrior status is nothing new to the Mavericks, who are geographically on an island in the collegiate tennis world, especially on the men's side as the team has averaged just over three home matches per season over the past five years.
The Mavs went 3-1 at home last season and had just four home matches in 2023-24 and just two the year prior. They were at home just three times in both 2021 and 2022.
Senior Day
The Mavericks will recognize six men's team members following the Alumni Reunion recognition ceremony at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Henry Scheck,
Diogo Manzano,
William Leschig,
Emil Hultman,
Shawn Springer and
Jamison Pfingston will all be honored along with four women's seniors.
Scheck, Manzano, Leschig and Hultman have all been in the Mavs' starting lineup throughout their four seasons with the Mavs. Pfingston was a regular starter in doubles last season and has made spot starts with the Mavs in singles as well throughout his five years with the program, including a redshirt season.
Springer played for two years at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska before transferring to CMU in 2023-24.
Hultman will enter Saturday's duals with 83 total career wins and has claimed 54 singles victories to already rank seventh in program history. Scheck is right behind with 82 total victories, nearly evenly split between singles (42) and doubles (40). Leschig also has 80 wins while Manzano has 54.
Know Your Foe
The Tigers will open their season on Saturday but did play in two individual-style tournaments in the fall. They hosted the Colorado College Invitational on Sept. 6-7, a tournament the Mavs competed in.
They then attended the ITA Division III West Regional Championships in California. Sam Dilworth and Hugo Vohmann both won their first round matches in the "B" and "C" flights but were downed in the Round of 16.
Last year's Tiger team finished 7-14 overall but went 2-1 to take third at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
Lenny Lehmitz, Aiden Little and Dominik Kaminski all co-lead the Tigers with nine dual wins last spring in singles. Kaminski also had a 9-10 doubles record in the top flight, partnering most often with Dilworth.
All but Little from that group return to this year's roster under the direction of veteran head coach Anthony Weber.
Series History
The Mavericks have dominated the rivalry with Tigers, winning each of the last 23 duals between the two teams since 2012.
CC's last win came on Apr. 10, 2009.
The Mavs are a perfect 10-0 against the Tigers.
Up Next
The Mavericks will have their most important weekend of the season from an NCAA Tournament qualification standpoint as they will head to Lubbock, Texas for three duals against fellow NCAA Division II South Central Regional rivals.
The Mavs are slated to take on Cameron next Friday (Mar. 6) before facing St. Mary's and host Lubbock Christian next Saturday (Mar. 7). Lubbock Christian is ranked sixth in the latest ITA NCAA Division II Rankings, released on Wednesday.
