When the Weber State University tennis team returned for the beginning for 2018, they stood across the court from the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds. The Wildcats took the win with a final score of 5–2.
Both teams also set out to make the match mean more than tennis, dedicating the day to Set the Expectation, a charity promoting the idea that sexual assault and violence are unacceptable.
To honor the group, both the Wildcats and Thunderbirds wore teal socks and ribbons. The uniforms for both teams also had #SetTheExpectation written on their backs.
The ’Cats took the lead in the doubles matches, winning two out of the three matches. The winning duos for the Weber State team were senior Hou-En Chen and sophomore Cezary Walkusz, who finished their match first, and the pairing of senior Stefan Cooper and sophomore Kris Van Wyk, who won the final doubles match.
The Thunderbirds took the second doubles match for their only win. Taking two out of the three victories in doubles play gave the Wildcats a single point, with the rest to be given out for singles wins.
Once those matches were complete, six of the Wildcats took the court for their singles matches and claimed four wins. The first singles match to finish ended in a victory for the Wildcats, as sophomore Michiel Van Schoor defeated his Thunderbird opponent in two sets.
Cooper and Van Wyk were also able to dominate on their own, with Cooper claiming his win in two sets and Van Wyk in three. The victory for Van Wyk clinched the team win for Weber State, giving them a 4–2 lead.
Sophomore Nick Werner also picked up his singles win, taking his opponent to three sets for the final match of the day.
WSU director of tennis Brad Ferreira said, “We were lucky to get the win. We were not quite ready coming back from the break and jumping into a match right away.”
The Wildcats will then hit the road, taking on the University of Utah and BYU before heading to Las Vegas for the UNLV tournament. The next time the team plays in Ogden will be on Feb. 16 against Montana State University.
