Preview: @UNCO_MensTennis Will Play Four Matches in Three Days

Friday, February 23

Seattle, WA

12:00pm

University of Northern Colorado

Seattle University

2/21/2018 12:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Pease and Smalley Look to Stay Undefeated in Doubles

By: By: Charlie Snelson

THE SCHEDULE
Spring Match 10
Friday Feb. 23 - 12:00 p.m.
vs. Seattle University
Seattle, Wash.

Spring Match 11
Saturday Feb. 24 - 2:00 p.m.
vs. Portland State
Vancouver, Wash.

Spring Match 12
Sunday, Feb. 25 - 10:00 a.m.
vs. Pacific University
Forest Grove, Ore.

Spring Match 13
Sunday, Feb. 25 - 3:00 p.m.
vs. Linfield College
Forest Grove, Ore.

GREELEY, Colo – The University of Northern Colorado has a very busy weekend ahead in men's tennis. The team will travel to the Pacific Northwest and play four matches in three days. Opponents include Seattle University, Portland State, Pacific University, and Linfield College.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bears went 3-3 over their six-match homestand ending on Sunday. Last weekend, the Bears narrowly defeated Eastern Washington 4-3 in a match that took over four and a half hours to complete. Alex Exsted was the deciding match at No. 6 singles for the Bears to break the tie. He defeated Ricardo Almeida 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4. No. 2 Kyle Pease and No. 4 Nick Wade were also winners against the Eagles in singles.

The Bears then struggled on Sunday against the Idaho Vandals and fell 6-1. The Vandals won the Big Sky Conference Tournament last season and won five of six singles positions against the Bears to take control of the match. Connor Finerty was a bright spot for UNC. At No. 1 singles, Finerty dispatched Mark Kovacs in straight set 6-4, 6-2, to ensure the Bears were not shutout
as a team.

DYNAMIC DOUBLES DUO
Kyle Pease and Tommy Smalley have found themselves at No. 1 among all doubles teams in the Big Sky Conference so far. They are undefeated as a pair (6-0) including a 7-5 win over Guilherme Scarpelli and Lucas Coutinho of Idaho 7-5. Pease and Smalley are 2-0 when playing No. 2 doubles and 4-0 at No. 3. A number of factors likely point to why Pease and Smalley have been successful this spring.
Sophomore Kyle Pease brings a year of doubles experience into the fold. He went 5-3 in doubles last season playing alongside Cassell King. His penetrating forehand is often the shot that helps him take control of matches. Tommy Smalley is a freshman this season but has found ways to win matches even when trailing. Smalley was the captain of his high school tennis team and also a three-sport athlete. He hails from Brentwood Essex, United Kingdom.

SCOUTING SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (5-4, 0-0 Conf.)
The Redhawks are 4-1 at home this season, with wins over Linfield College, Idaho State, Southern Utah, and Pacific Lutheran at Sand Point Tennis Center. They began the season on the road with three straight losses (Portland State, Gonzaga, Eastern Washington) but have bounced back since to win five of their next six.

Last season, Seattle finished 10-15 overall, 0-5 in the WAC. They were also 3-5 against Big Sky opponents. The Bears last played the Redhawks in February 2015. The Bears lost 5-2 in Greeley. Connor Finerty played No. 6 as a freshman that season and lost 4-6, 6-2, 10-7. Bears Head Coach Ben Gendron played No. 1 singles at that time.

Seattle University has a young roster, including one senior, two juniors, six sophomores, and two freshmen. Their head coach, Adam Reeb is in his third season at the helm.

SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE (5-3, 2-0 Big Sky)
The Vikings have played their last three matches at home. Over that stretch, they have gone 2-1 with wins over Idaho State (5-2), and Southern Utah (4-3). Their last match, against Army, resulted in a 6-1 loss. Nathan Boniel is 5-3 this spring at No. 1 singles this spring. He enjoyed some success in fall tournaments as well and holds a 17-5 overall singles record as a result. Tommy Edwards is 2-5 at No. 2 and Avery West is 5-2 at No. 3.

In doubles, fifth-year head coach Toby Kraul has used seven different doubles combinations. The team of Tommy Edwards and Avery West have consistently billed at No. 1 and together they are 6-2 in that spot.

The Portland State roster is made up of one senior, two juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen. The Vikings have players from five foreign countries including Australia, Saudi Arabia, Finland, and United Kingdom, and Brazil. Tommy Edwards is a Portland native (actually the suburb of Hillsboro, Ore.) and Avery West hails from Bellingham, Wash. The Vikings are 5-1 at home this season.

SCOUTING PACIFIC UNIVERSITY (0-0, 0-0 Conf.)
Pacific University competes as a member of the Northwest Conference in the NCAA Division III. They have not had a losing record since going 6-12 in 2013.

The Bears will be just the second opponent of the season to face Pacific after they take on Hardin Simmons first, on Saturday. The two teams have also never played each since the Bears made the transition to Division I. Last season, the Boxers were 11-8 overall and 5-2 at home. Their biggest victories included Whitworth College (5-4), Colorado College (7-2), and George Fox (7-2).

The Boxers have a large roster consisting of two seniors, one junior, three sophomores, and five freshmen. Ten of their eleven players are from the United States and three are from the state of Hawaii. Clark Winneger played No. 1 singles for the team last season but graduated so first-year head coach Pete Yellico will likely looking for a new player to step up and seize the spot.

SCOUTING LINFIELD COLLEGE (1-3, 0-0 Conf.)
Linfield College competes at the NCAA Division III level. The Bears have never played the Wildcats. Last weekend, Linfield was defeated 8-1 by California Institute of Technology. A day before, the Wildcats won 7-2 against Community Colleges of Spokane.

The No. 1 singles position has yet to be decided on the Linfield roster as four different players have started at that position in as many matches. Luis Rojas played No. 2 against CalTech and outlasted Derik Nguyen 6-4, 6-4 to pick up their only team point in the match.
Linfield features a balanced roster which includes one senior, five juniors, three sophomores, and one freshman. Ben Belleto is in his third year as head coach after coaching a combined eleven seasons at Whittier College and Pomona-Pitzer College.

BIG SKY BIG PICTURE
Portland State and Idaho are early favorites to win the conference and both are 2-0 heading into this weekend. Eastern Washington and Portland State share the best overall record in the conference at 5-3. Northern Colorado (1-2 Conf.) sits eighth among twelve teams. At No. 6 singles, UNC's Alex Exsted has the most wins of anyone in the conference at that position and is 4-2.

Eastern Washington's Scott Paz picked up his third Big Sky Tennis Player of the Week honor after going 4-0 between singles and doubles play last weekend. Against Northern Colorado, Paz and Flavien Raveau teamed up to take down the Bears' top doubles team (Finerty and King) 7-6. Then Paz defeated Connor Finerty in singles 6-1, 6-4.

EXSTED MARKS THE SPOT
Freshman Alex Exsted may play No. 6 singles for the Bears, but he has made as big an impact as anyone in the lineup so far this spring for UNC. Exsted is 4-2 in singles, but more importantly has been the timeliness of his wins. Exsted needed to win to secure a 4-3 victory in the first match of the year against Colorado State. He was able to hold off a late charge in the second set by the Thunderwolves Steven Alcala, winning 6-1, 6-4.

Last weekend's match against Eastern Washington was even more momentous. The team score was again tied 3-3 and Exsted was the last match on still on the court. After losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Exsted stormed back to take the second. Then in the decider, Exsted grabbed a break of serve late to win it 6-4, securing the Bears first win over Eastern Washington since 2013.