GREELEY, Colo. – Winners of three of their last four meets, and six of their last nine, the IUPUI men's tennis team (9-18, 4-0) will return to the road to face Northern Colorado (6-14, 3-7) Friday (April 15) followed by a Summit League matchup with Denver (14-7, 4-0) Saturday.
The Jaguars are coming off back-to-back Summit League victories against South Dakota State (April 8) and Omaha (April 9) this past weekend, earning 5-2 and 4-3 victories, respectively. Against South Dakota State, IUPUI picked up singles wins at the one, two, four, five and six spots, as
David Beasley,
Jac Newis,
Akshay Verma,
Bradley Luetschwager, and #Kyle Whittaker were all victorious. Whittaker's victory at the No. 6 spot was perhaps the most dramatic, as the Boise, Idaho-native willed his way to a 10-6 victory in the tiebreaker after going 6-4, 5-7 through two sets. The Jags did not pick up a win in doubles play.
Against Omaha, the Jags earned the crucial doubles point after the duos of Luetschwager/Whittaker and Beasley/Verma picked up victories of 7-5 and 6-4. Newis won at the No. 1 spot, 6-3, 6-4, while
Marcus Nalley went to three sets in a win at the No. 3 spot. Verma secured his second victory of the day in a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 4 spot.
Northern Colorado is currently on a three-game losing streak after picking up back-to-back wins against Colorado College (March 27) and Southern Utah (April 1) for the first time this season. Last time out, the Bears lost to Montana (April 8) 1-6 followed by Montana State (April 9) 1-6. The Bears sit in ninth place out of 12 teams in the Big Sky Conference.
A matchup of the top two teams in Summit League standings, Denver is currently riding a three-meet winning streak while also winning five of their last seven contests. The Pioneers have back-to-back-to-back Summit League victories against Western Illinois (7-0), South Dakota State (6-1), and Oral Roberts (6-1). The matchup with IUPUI signals the final Summit League contest for either program before the Summit League Championships set to be hosted in Omaha, Nebraska (April 29-30).
