The Weber State University men’s tennis team started Spring Break with a trip to Club Green Meadows in Portland, Ore. The team played its weekend matchup against Portland State University. The Wildcats are improving with each match and now have a 5-6 overall record and a 3-1 record in the Big Sky Conference.
In doubles, the team won two out of three of its matchups. Simon Unger and Oliver Good played against the PSU pair Roman Margoulis and Mitch Somach.
“Dominating the match at the beginning is very important for winning,” Unger said. “Our match was very well played. I was thrilled about our doubles win and also the team win. This weekend was very beneficial to our team. We played some challenging matches and gained a lot of experience and confidence.”
The third doubles team consisted of David Hintze and Ryan Garner, tied in all four. They finally got a break as they held out and won 8-5, which gave the team the double point.
“All of the doubles teams played very well,” Good said. “Each match was a standout in my eyes.”
Hintze agreed that the doubles victories were crucial to the overall team victory.
“Our doubles match was a team match-clincher; we ended up getting the winning point for the doubles matches,” Hintze said. “The doubles match was a fight, but in the end they were the team that rose to the challenge and got the winning point.”
The singles matches ended up with only one loss, making it a 5-1 win for the ‘Cats in singles. Unger, Good, Pello Ramstromer, Hintze and Caio Poitena all knocked out wins for the ‘Cats against PSU. Garner had the loss in singles when he played Nick Fracchia at the No. 6 singles spot. Garner lost 6-2, 6-2 to Fracchia, giving PSU a singles point for the match.
Hintze played at the No. 3 spot against Zach Lubek from PSU.
“The first set went really well; I kept playing balls deep, and as a result it ended up making him miss a few,” Hintze said. “After the first set win on my part, Lubek came out strong, determined to come back and win the match. The game got tougher as time went on. He just kept playing stronger, smarter and harder.”
The game went into a tiebreaker match, with Hintze winning the tiebreak set. Again Hintze’s match was the singles-clincher for WSU.
The team played two other non-conference matches over that same weekend, one against the University of Portland and another against the University of Oregon, nationally ranked at No. 53. Both matches ended up in losses for the Wildcats. They lost to Portland 5-2 and lost to the Oregon Ducks with a 7-0 sweep.
“These matches, although turning out with losses, we benefited from; we gained a lot of experience, and we were able to learn a lot and try new things,” Good said. “These matches brought the team to a new level and will help us play harder teams in our own conference.”
