@UNCO_MensTennis Opens Spring Season With Home Match Against CSU-Pueblo

Saturday, January 20

Greeley, CO

2:00pm

University of Northern Colorado

Colorado State University - Pueblo

1/18/2018 10:59:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Coaches Poll Projects Bears to Finish Eighth in Big Sky

By: By: Charlie Snelson

THE SCHEDULE
Spring Match 1
Saturday, Jan. 20 - 2:00 p.m.
vs. Colorado State Pueblo (6-3, 0-0 Conf.)
Work Out West Fitness Center, Greeley Colo.

GREELEY, Colo. -The University of Northern Colorado kicks off their spring season with a home match this weekend against Colorado State Pueblo. The match will take place at Work Out West Fitness Center at 2:00 p.m. and is free to the public. The Bears played a pair of invites in the fall to get ready for the much longer spring season, including the Bluejay Invite and the ITA Regional tournament.

MEET THE 2017-18 BEARS
ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS

The Bears bring in a young roster this season, eager to get off to a positive start. Freshmen include Alex Exsted, Ryan Hardin, and Tommy Smalley. Nick Wade, a transfer sophomore from Colorado State, Pueblo leads off the season playing against his former team and Michael Kritzinger comes to the Bears as a junior, having played his first two seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Bears will have two experienced seniors on the roster this season. They include Connor Finerty and Cassell King. Finerty's consistent groundstroke game helped him quickly rise to the top of Ben Gendron's lineup card last season and he played No. 1 singles a high majority of the year. From that position, he posted a 9-11 singles record. His biggest wins came against Air Force and Abilene Christian. In the first half of the season, Finerty played doubles with Cassell King and the pair went 7-5 at No. 3. In the second half, he played with Kyle Pease (graduated) and they went 3-5 at No. 1.

Cassell King greatly improved his singles record as a junior in 2016-17, finishing 7-12 overall and 6-4 in the Big Sky Conference. A key win for King was a three set victory over Montana State at No. 6 singles. King was a versatile doubles player and played with six different doubles partners last year, posting a 12-16 record.

2016-17 NORTHERN COLORADO REWIND
-Overall: 8-13
-Big Sky: 3-8
-Home: 8-4
-Away: 0-6
-Neutral: 0-3

MEET THE COACH
Ben Gendron is entering his third year as a coach of the team, and this will be his second as the head coach. He was named the interim head coach in August 2016 after spending the 2015-16 season with the team as a volunteer assistant. During his interim season he helped guide the team to an 8-13 record improving on the previous season's win total. The Bears held serve on home court going 8-4 in matches in Greeley. Gendron led UNC to one of their biggest wins in program history, a 5-2 victory over Montana last spring. It was the first time in Division 1 history UNC Men's tennis defeated the Grizzlies.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS

Colorado State Pueblo is also leading off their spring season in their match against the Bears Saturday. They have a balanced roster that includes 2 seniors, 4 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 2 freshmen. Newcomer Thomas Pudney (Fr., Southend, United Kingdom) highlighted the fall with a runner-up finish at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Central Regional. With his performance at the regional and all fall he earned the No. 2 regional ranking and No. 35 national ranking in the first edition of the ITA Division II Singles Rankings. Pudney finished the fall dual season with a 5-1 record at No. 1 singles and 4-4 at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

As a team, the men finished 6-3, which included a big nonconference win (5-4) against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Metro State University of Denver. The Pack went 3-2 at their home tournament to open the fall season. Senior Steven Alcala (Pueblo, Colo.) was a perfect 6-0 in those matches, which included a 4-0 record at No. 3 doubles with freshman Cade Boedeker (Keller, Texas). The team competes in NCAA Division II and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

BIG SKY PRESEASON COACHES POLL

1. Idaho (9)                                         117
2. Northern Arizona (2)                 111
3. Sacramento State                       98
4. Montana (1)                                  96
5. Weber State                                  73
6. Idaho State                                    72
7. Montana State                             59
T8. Eastern Washington                45
T8. Southern Utah                           45
10. Portland State                            31
11. Northern Colorado                   28
12. North Dakota                              17

FULL RELEASE