Men's Tennis To Battle Ole Miss in NCAA Frist Round on Friday

FIRST SERVE
The Utah men's tennis team returns to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships this weekend. The Utes head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the first and second round, which TCU hosts. The Utes will face Ole Miss at 1 p.m. MT on Friday in the first matchup of the regional.

 HEAR FROM COACH BRATEANU

UTAH IN THE POLL
The ITA Team National Rankings were announced on Wednesday. Utah came in at No. 37. The ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I Men's Team Rankings feature the nation's Top 75 teams.
 
ITA PLAYER RANKINGS
The ITA Division I Men's Rankings came out on Wednesday. The doubles team of Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Espin Busleiman came in ranked 27th. The pair is 18-2 on the season with wins over then-No. 17 and then-No. 32 double teams. Capalbo and Espin Busleiman have won nine of their last ten matches. Espin Busleiman joins the singles rankings and is ranked 107th. This spring, he is 17-1 in singles play.
 
NCAA BOUND
For the third time in the last four seasons, the Utah Utes are off to the NCAA Championships. This is the 15th NCAA appearance for the Utes in program history and the first time it has earned an at-large selection since 2019.
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The first and second-round competition occurs May 6-7 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each site advances to the super-regional competition on May 13 or 14. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois, where the eight teams will compete for the national championship on May 19-22. The University of Illinois will host the event.
 
ALL-PAC-12 HONOREES 
The Pac-12 Conference announced Wednesday that the Utah men's tennis team's Franco Capalbo, Francisco Bastias, and Geronimo Espin Busleiman have earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors. Capalbo earned second-team honors, while Bastias and Espin Busleiman were named honorable mention. This is the first time since the Utes' have joined the Pac-12 that they have had three players honored in one season. 
 
NCAA DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP 
The University of Utah men's tennis doubles team of Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Espin Busleiman has been selected for the 2022 NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championship, which was announced Tuesday. The competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois. Capalbo and Espin Busleiman are the first Utah duo since Nick Coutts, and Zach Ganger qualified in 2006. Capalbo and Espin Busleiman earned an at-large selection. This season, the duo ranked as high as 15 in the ITA Rankings and were No. 27 in the latest poll. This spring, Capalbo and Espin Busleiman were 18-2 as a doubles team and are 20-4, including the fall slate. The duo played in the ITA All-American Championships double draw this fall. 
 
MOST WINS IN PAC-12 PLAY
The Utes won four matches in Pac-12 play this season. The four wins are the most wins the program has had since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. Utah earned a fourth-place finish in the league, the highest finish in school history.
 
SCOUTING OLE MISS
The Rebels of Ole Miss enter the NCAA Championships with a record of 16-12 on the season and are ranked No. 32 in the latest ITA National Team Ranking. They are making their 28th straight tournament appearance and the 30th time in program history. Nikola Slavic achieved a new career-best ranking as he moved to 14th in the ITA singles rankings, while the doubles team of Finn Reynolds and Lukas Engelhardt re-entered the ITA top-20 in doubles this week at No. 19. The pairing has compiled a 12-10 overall record this season. Slavic is 22-12 in singles this season, which is the most wins on the team for the Rebels.
 
BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The Utes opened the season 16-0, which is the best start in program history. The previous school record was 11-0, which was set during the 2015-16 season.
  
UP NEXT 
With a win on Friday, the Utes advance to the regional final, where they will face the winner of the Drake vs. #1 TCU on Saturday. The match on Saturday is set for 3 p.m. MT.
 
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2022 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahTennis | Instagram: @UtahTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahmenstennis).