March 7, 2004
The University of Denver completed its three-match weekend sweep with a 6-1 victory over Utah in men's tennis action this afternoon at Stapleton Tennis Pavilion. The Pioneers won five of six singles matches and captured the doubles point to complete their weekend sweep of three opponents. Denver defeated Boston College (6-1) on March 5, Drake (4-3) on March 6 and Utah today for the three-match sweep. The Pioneers also extended their winning streak to four matches.
"We just finished seven weekends in a row of matches," head coach Geoff Young said. "The guys deserve a break this week to take care of final exams. It worked to mix up the doubles combinations. I think it took some pressure off everyone to play with a new partner."
Young shuffled the doubles combinations and captured the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and 2. Nejc Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Hans Peter Gaber (Anger, Austria) won 8-6 at No. 1 and Niki Popovic (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Jason Tan (Amsterdam, Netherlands) won 8-5 at No. 2 to get the doubles point.
Urban Ljubic (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Viktor Zetterholm (Stockholm, Sweden), Gaber, Tan and Popovic all won their respective singles matches. Ljubic won his fifth straight match, while Smole lost his match at No. 1 singles and has now lost three of his last four matches.
"Urban has regained his old form," Young said. "I look for him to be a huge part of our success down the stretch of our season."
The 75th-ranked Pioneers (8-6) will travel to California for two matches on March 17-18. The Pioneers will play Yale in La Jolla on March 17 and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles on March 18.
#75 Denver 6, Utah 1
Singles:
1) Roeland Brateanu (UU) def. Nejc Smole (DU), 7-6, 7-6
2) Hans Peter Gaber (DU) def. Tomasz Grzyb (UU), 6-3, 7-5
3) Urban Ljubic (DU) def. Miron Mann (UU), 7-5, 6-7, 1-0
4) Viktor Zetterholm (DU) def. Jason Yap (UU), 6-1, 6-2
5) Jason Tan (DU) def. Nick Coutts (UU), 6-3, 6-4
6) Niki Popovic (DU) def. Ryan Scott (UU), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles:
1) Smole/Gaber (DU) def. Brateanu/Mann (UU), 8-6
2) Popovic/Tan (DU) def. Scott/Grzyb (UU), 8-5
3) Yap/Coutts (UU) def. Ljubic/Zetterholm (DU), 8-4
