BILLINGS, Mont. – Getting ready to open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this week, the Montana State University Billings men's tennis team will face one more nonconference opponent before three conference matches in Colorado.
MSUB will take on Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., before facing RMAC opponents Western New Mexico, Metro State, and Colorado State – Pueblo. The first two conference matches will take place in Denver on April 3, with the match with CSUP set for Pueblo, Colo., on April 4.
"Colorado College is a strong team and it will be a great opportunity for our men to play them before our conference matches," said MSUB head coach
Becky King. "This is a long trip for us and we are facing three strong teams in two days from our conference."
The Yellowjackets (0-6) last competed during their trip to Orlando when they played four matches from March 1-3. MSUB also hosted its annual Alumni Match on March 28 at the Elks Tennis Center last weekend.
In MSUB's most recent match against the University of Detroit – Mercy,
Brandon Beardsley and
Robert Pike picked up their first doubles victory of the season, with a strong 6-3 win for the Yellowjackets' lone point in a 7-1 loss.
Pike also had a strong showing against Cedarville, winning his singles match in straight sets and battling with Beardsley in a narrow 8-6 defeat in doubles play.
Santiago de la Rosa Mora has also shown promise this spring, winning his singles match at the No. 1 position in the Yellowjackets' 6-3 loss to Cedarville. The singles win was the third in a row for de la Rosa Mora, who is 3-3 in solo action this spring.
"I am looking for some leadership from Santiago," King said. "I feel very confident with him leading our team in the top doubles and singles positions. He has worked so hard this season and I am excited to see that pay off for him."
Austin Kische also had a victory in singles play against Cedarville, and has teamed up with de la Rosa Mora at No. 1 doubles in multiple close matchups.
Daniil Gorkov is also the owner of a strong singles win this spring, battling tough for a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) win in MSUB's match against Grand Valley State in Florida.
"We have yet to see Western New Mexico and Colorado State – Pueblo so we have to go in expecting the best from them," King said. "We have been preparing for strong competition and the men know they need to play their best this weekend."
Thursday, April 2 – 5 p.m. MTN – Colorado Springs, COColorado College Tigers2015 Spring Record: 3-8 The Tigers have lost four of their last five matches, including 7-2 and 8-1 losses in their two most recent times on the court.
CC's last victory came on March 18 against Bethel University, as the Tigers won 4 of 6 singles matches and one doubles match to pick up a narrow 5-4 win.
In singles play, Jack Burger has been the most consistent player for the Tigers with an 8-3 record at the No. 2 spot. Taylor Delehanty has also had a strong showing at 7-3 overall this season.
In doubles action, the team of Burger and Jason Gutierrez is 6-5 overall and is the lone combination on the team to have a winning record.
The Series: The Yellowjackets are 6-2 alltime against CC, in a series that dates back to the 2001 season. The last time the teams met was on March 3, 2011 in Billings, when the 'Jackets picked up an 8-1 victory. MSUB has won the last two meetings overall between the teams, and is 5-2 on the road against the Tigers alltime.
Friday, April 3 – 9:30 a.m. MTN – DenverWestern New Mexico University Mustangs2015 Spring Record: 6-9 The Mustangs snapped a four-match losing skid with a 6-3 win over Mesa Community College on March 21 and currently sit a 6-9 overall this season.
WNMU opened the spring with a five-match losing streak, then won five in a row before their latest four-match losing streak.
In the win over Mesa, the Mustangs won 2 of 3 doubles matches and 4 of 6 singles matchups to claim the victory. Vladimir Gnilozubov holds the team's best singles record on the season at 7-7, and Tristan Da Lio is close behind at 6-8.
In doubles play, the combination of Alvaro Nunez and Pablo Santibanez is 4-4 overall.
The Series: Overall MSUB is 1-11 against WNMU, with the lone victory coming on April 23, 2005 in Hawaii. The Mustangs have won the last 10 meetings since then, and most recently picked up a 9-0 win last season on April 11, 2014.
Friday, April 3 – 3 p.m. MTN – DenverMetro State University Roadrunners2015 Spring Record: 8-7, 0-1 RMAC The Roadrunners got an early start to their conference schedule, losing to Colorado Mesa on March 6 by the score of 6-3. Since then, MSU-D has gone 4-2 and most recently defeated Hastings College 9-0 at home.
Metro State is a strong 3-1 at home overall this season, is 4-1 in neutral site play and holds a 1-5 record on the road.
John Qualls and Josh Graetz have led the way for Metro State in singles action, holding records of 14-9 and 13-7, respectively. Nick Baker is also a double-digit winner so far in singles action with a record of 13-10 playing at the No. 2 spot.
In doubles action, the team of Baker and Graetz is 11-8 playing at No. 1 while Calum Hayes and Qualls team up at No. 2 and hold an 11-8 record.
The Series: The Yellowjackets have consistently battled tough against Metro State, with a 7-9 alltime record against the Colorado opponent. The Yellowjackets have won two of the last three meetings between the teams, but Metro State won last season's matchup 7-2 in Billings. On the road MSUB is 3-6 alltime against the Roadrunners.
Saturday, April 4 – 10 a.m. MTN – Pueblo, COColorado State University – Pueblo ThunderWolves2015 Spring Record: 3-11 Closing out the road trip for MSUB will be a match against CSU – Pueblo on Saturday in Pueblo, Colo. CSU-P has lost nine of its last 10 matches, including an 8-1 loss to Cameron (Okla.) on Monday. The ThunderWolves recently defeated Colorado College 8-1 on March 26, snapping an eight-game losing skid with the victory.
Leading the way in singles play for CSU-P has been Steven Alcala, who holds a record of 9-10. Marcelo Chaparro and Luke Lipinski are the next two highest winners in singles play with four victories apiece.
In doubles action, Alcala and Lupinski have teamed up to go 4-4 at the No. 2 position, providing the TunderWolves with consistency. Chaparro and Trung Le have also had a strong showing, going 2-2 at No. 1 doubles and 1-1 at No. 3 doubles.
The Series: Despite losing the last two meetings, MSUB holds a 7-4 overall record against CSU-P. The ThunderWolves won both matches last season, winning 5-1 in the RMAC Championships after beating the Yellowjackets 6-3 in Billings. Prior to that, MSUB had won five matches in a row dating back to the 2010 season. On the road MSUB is 5-1 alltime against CSU-P.
