CHENEY, Wash. - The Eastern Washington University men's tennis team gears up for two away matches beginning with Utah State this Friday, Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time in Logan, Utah at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club. Two days later, on Feb. 5, the Eagles face Utah at 4 p.m. PT in Salt Lake City, Utah at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. Both matches are set to prepare the young Eagle squad for their first Big Sky Conference fixture on Feb. 12 at Idaho.
Eastern returns after a dominating performance at home last weekend versus Whitman College. The Eagles swept past the Blues, with highlights of
Brady Thomas and
Tyler Dalos pairing up to find victory at No. 2 doubles, 6-0. During singles play, both
Steven Paz and
Caden Kammerer found similar success at the No. 1 and No. 2 spot with 6-0 and 6-1 wins in sets one and two, respectively. Additionally,
Erik Sarlvik played well, winning 6-0 and 6-2 for both sets.
As a team, the Eagles mark a 1-2 overall record and look to continue their triumph.
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT: Utah State
Utah State has an 0-2 overall record, falling to Oregon (6-1) and Portland (6-1) back in late January. The last time EWU faced the Aggies was in 2021, where Eastern lost 6-1 at home. Overall, Utah State leads the series 9-2 with the Eagles two victories in 2007 and 2009.
The Aggies are led by Aaron Paajanen, who enters his fourth season at the helm. In the 2021-22 season, Paajenen pushed his squad to an 11-12 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in Mountain West play to finish second in the conference. Seniors David Cierny and Bodin Zarkovic were each named to the All-MW singles and doubles teams.
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT: Utah
The Eagles last faced the Utes back in January of 2009 and fell 6-1 in Salt Lake City, which marks their only competition against each other. Currently, Utah holds a 2-2 overall record with wins over UC Davis (6-1) and Weber State (7-0).
Utah is led by head coach Roeland Brateanu, a three-time ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year, who enters his ninth season at the helm. Brateanu and his squad are coming off a 21-8 season in 2022 after an abrupt ending to an otherwise excellent year, which saw the Utes making it to the NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Championships.
In addition, the Utes finished the season with their second 20-win season in program history, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships for only the second time in school history.
Up Next
The Eagles take on their first Big Sky Conference match at Idaho on Feb. 12 at the Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center in Moscow, Idaho, with the match time still to be determined.
