No. 31 Utah Comes To Town For Sunday Pac-12 Opener

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY MEN’S TENNIS

#53 Washington hosts #31 Utah, 12 p.m. | Live Scores and Video

SEATTLE – Men’s Tennis is back home and set to start its Pac-12 slate this Sunday with 31st-ranked Utah. The 53rd-ranked Dawgs (9-4) will host the Utes (15-2) at 12 noon, at either the outdoor Bill Quillian Stadium or the indoor Nordstrom Tennis Center, depending on weather.

 

After wrapping up nonconference play on Tuesday with a 5-2 win in Hawaii, the Huskies now play their next eight against conference opponents. Every match will be a great challenge, as all nine Pac-12 teams are currently ranked. USC leads the way at No. 10, followed by No. 16 Stanford, No. 19 Arizona, No. 26 UCLA, No. 28 California, No. 31 Utah, No. 41 Arizona State, Washington at No. 53, and Oregon at No. 62. Every conference win the Huskies can pick up will go a long way towards a potential NCAA tournament bid.

 

The Utes are coming off a huge win over then-No. 7 Harvard, which shot them up from 70th to 31st in the latest ITA rankings. Utah will play Oregon prior to coming to Seattle. Geronimo Busleiman, Utah’s No. 2 singles player, ranks 56th nationally, and Franco Capalbo, the No. 1 singles player, ranks 85th. In doubles, Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac are ranked 26th. Utah’s two losses came back in January to Texas Tech and Gonzaga, since then it has won 13 in a row.

 

The Huskies are represented in the rankings by Cesar Bouchelaghem, who is 102nd overall and 13-0 on the season, and Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn are 61st in doubles. Freshman Brett Pearson has won his past six matches at the No. 6 spot, while Nedim Suko has won four of his past five.