BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men's and women's tennis teams head to Denver, Colorado, this weekend for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Gates Tennis Center.  The men's team is seeded third and will play sixth-seeded Colorado State-Pueblo in the first round Friday at 11 a.m., while the women are seeded sixth and will play third-seeded Metro State Friday at 8 a.m.

The men's team enters the tournament after an 8-8 record overall in the regular season and a 4-2 record in conference play.  The Yellowjackets currently are ranked fourth in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region poll and have an opportunity to enhance their NCAA Tournament chances with a strong showing at the RMAC Championships. 

The Yellowjackets are led by sophomore Navin Marimuthu who has a 9-3 record in singles at the No. 1 position (against four-year schools) and a 5-1 record in the RMAC.  Marimuthu is 12-3 overall at singles with three wins against junior college competition the first week of the spring season in Arizona as the Jacket men and women played Glendale, Scottsdale and Mesa Community Colleges. 

Junior Alonso Leon is 10-2 at singles and 4-1 in RMAC play at the No. 2 position.  Leon also is 12-3 overall.  Freshman Kavindu Gamage is 7-5 and 5-1 in RMAC play as he has had a stellar first year as a Yellowjacket, mainly at the No. 3 position.

In doubles, Yellowjacket duo of Marimuthu and Gamage went 5-6 and 3-3 in RMAC contests at the No. 1 position, while Leon and freshman Thomas Staffileno went 7-3 and 4-2 in conference matches mainly at the No. 3 position. Marimuthu and Gamage went 7-7 overall in doubles, while Leon and Staffileno led the team at 9-3.

The Yellowjackets turned back CSU-Pueblo in their only meeting this season in a 7-2 win April 1 in Billings.  In that match, the Jackets took a 2-1 lead from doubles in to singles play where Marimuthu, Leon and Gamage made quick work of their opponents at the top three positions.  Freshman Brad Knutson and Staffileno won at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, while CSUP earned a win at No. 4. 

If the Yellowjackets defeat CSUP Friday, they would then face the winner of No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 7 Colorado Christian.  MSUB lost a tough 5-4 decision to UNK in Billings, Apr. 2 and defeated Colorado Christian 9-0 both times this season. 

On the women's side, the Jackets enter the tournament with a 7-11 record overall and 1-5 in the RMAC.  The Jackets ended a five-match skid with a 5-4 non-conference win over Colorado State-Pueblo in the final match of the regular season last weekend. 

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is graduate Maria Peterson who went 10-5 against four-year schools and 5-1 in RMAC matches at the No. 4 position in her first year of collegiate tennis.  Peterson was a team-best 13-5 overall in singles.  Senior Rikki Peach went 8-7 at the No. 2 position and finished 3-3 in the RMAC.  She was 11-7 overall.

In doubles, the tandem of Peterson and junior Johnna Beatty went 8-7 against four-year schools and 2-4 in the RMAC at No. 2.  Overall, they were 10-8.