COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. – Jacksonville State men's tennis is set for a western road trip Friday through Sunday. The Gamecocks get started at Air Force on Friday before taking on Utah State on Saturday and Denver on Sunday at Denver University.
The Gamecocks are coming off their first loss of the season at Georgia Southern where the Eagles downed Jax State 4-3 in a close match. Jax State is 3-1 now following that setback. Jax State visits Air force for an 11 a.m. match start on Friday. Airforce is 5-5 after a dominating 4-0 win over Navy on Feb. 15.
Jax State then takes on Utah State at Denver on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Utah State is 5-2 following a 4-0 victory over San Diego State. The road trip wraps up against Denver on Sunday for an 11:30 a.m. first serve. Denver is 6-5 coming off a 5-2 loss at Wichita State on Feb. 16.
Matei Palcau is one of two undefeated Gamecocks in singles this season. Palcau is 4-0 and is joined by
David Krasner who sits at 3-0.
Charlie Penman is 3-1,
Alin Fatu is 2-1,
Marko Milosavljevic is 1-1,
Timo De Visser is 1-2, and
Aman Dahiya is 0-1. In doubles,
Lucius Soller and
Zach Murphy are 3-0 as a team to lead the Red-and-White. Penman and De Visser have a solid record of 3-1 thus far as well. Palcau and Krasner are 0-1.
Air Force is led by Matthew Staton in singles who sits at 8-2. AJ Moore is 6-3, Langdon Tingleaf is 5-4, Tyler Leaird is 1-0, and Jack Brown is 1-0. No other Air Force players have a winning record in singles action. Phillip Deaton and Moore have a 3-2 record in doubles to lead the way for Air Force. Staton and Luke Wolf are 1-0, and Tingleaf and Moore are 1-0.
Utah State is led by Mohammad Alkotop and Sergi Mico Fenollar who both have five wins in singles. Alkotop is 5-1, while Fenollar is 5-2, respectively. Dmitri Goubin is 4-2 and Roman Venger is 4-3 as well. Fenollar and Keanu Rigby pace the Aggies in doubles with a 5-1 record. Alkotop and Goubin are 4-1 and Eliot Nobel and David Martirosian are 3-1.
Denver's top singles performer is Daniel Sancho Arbizu who is 17-5. Samuel Rovai trails closely at 16-7, Raffaello Papajcik is 12-5, and Rikuto Yamaguchi is 13-10. Theo Coats and Arbizu lead the way in doubles with a 7-1 record, while Rovai and Yamaguchi are 4-0 as a team. Yamaguchi and Papajcik are 3-2 and Yamaguchi and Connor Robb-Wilcox are 3-2.
Following the western road swing, Jax State returns to the Jax State Tennis Courts to take on UNC-Asheville on Friday, Feb. 28 for a 1 p.m. first-serve.
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