DENVER – The University of Denver men's tennis team will host three matches on consecutive days from January 17-19 to begin its 2025 season.
 
DU's season opener is set for Friday, January 17, at 12 p.m. MT against UC Davis. Denver will then host Air Force on Saturday, January 18, at 5 p.m. MT before closing the weekend with a match against Montana State on Sunday, January 19, at 10:30 a.m. MT.
 
All home DU home matches are held at Denver Tennis Park, and admission is free for all fans.
 
SEASON PREVIEW:
Denver starts the season as the 2025 preseason favorite to defend its Summit League title from a year ago. Four Pioneers from the 2024 squad that went 23-0 through the Summit League tournament are back on this year's roster including senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu, who was named a 2025 Summit League Player to Watch. Sancho Arbizu joined teammate, junior Raffaello Papajcik in qualifying for the NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championships in November, and both hold top-40 national ITA singles rankings.
 
Also back from last year's roster are seniors Rikuto Yamaguchi and Relja Eskic. Six newcomers join them including graduate transfer Connor Robb-Wilcox and junior transfer Ryoma Mishiro. Four first-year student-athletes are on the 2025 roster in Theo Coats, Mark Neyelov, Samuel Rovai and Kaden Taylor.
 
2024 RECAP:
Denver became the first Division I men's team to enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record since 2013, winning its sixth Summit League championship along the way. The Pioneers were drawn as a No. 3 regional seed for the NCAA Championships and played No. 22-ranked Michigan State in the first round, falling to the Spartans, 4-0, in a match that was tighter than the final scoreline implied.
 
DU followed up its record-setting 2024 dual campaign with more records set during the 2024 fall season. The ITA Mountain Regional singles finals featured two Pioneers in Sancho Arbizu and Papajcik, guaranteeing both spots in the NCAA singles field where Papajcik won his first-round match in a three-set, late-night battle to become the first Denver men's player to win an NCAA singles match.
 
SERIES HISTORY:
UC Davis: This will be just the second all-time meeting between Denver and UC Davis after first playing on January 20, 2023, in a 5-2 win for DU at home.
 
Air Force: Denver moved to 20-4 against Air Force with a 5-2 win in their last meeting at the USAFA on March 16, 2024. The teams have played each other at least once in each of the eight seasons with DU coming away with a 7-1 record during the stretch. Air Force's only win was in its last trip to Denver on February 3, 2023, in a narrow 4-3 decision.
 
Montana State: DU holds a 6-1 record against Montana State including five straight wins. The teams have frequently met during fall play, but this will be their first dual since a 6-1 Denver win at home on January 21, 2011. All seven previous meetings have been held in the state of Colorado with five of them being hosted in Denver.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team heads to the 2025 ITA Kickoff Weekend and was selected to the Ohio State site. The No. 3 seeded Pioneers will first play No. 2 seed Princeton on Saturday, January 25.
 
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