WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Denver men's tennis team (6-4, 0-0 Summit) battled hard against Boise State in a neutral-site match on Saturday but ultimately fell, 3-4, to the Broncos.
 
DU rallied back from a 0-2 over deficit to level things at 2-2 before Boise State clinched the win at 4-2. Denver added a third team point in the final match to conclude, winning at No. 3 singles in three sets.
 
Denver was without two of its lineup mainstays with junior Raffaello Papajcik and freshman Theo Coats unavailable on Saturday.
 
Doubles:
BSU earned the day's first point, winning the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles matches after DU was forced to again shuffle its doubles pairings. Denver's only returning doubles team was junior Ryoma Mishiro and freshman Samuel Rovai at No. 3. The new Pioneer team of senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu and graduate student Connor Robb-Wilcox were at 4-5 at No. 2 when the match was abandoned.
 
Singles:
Boise State went ahead 2-0 on the team scoreboard after winning the No. 6 match in DU freshman Mark Neyelov 's collegiate dual singles debut. Sancho Arbizu put Denver on the board with a straight-sets win at No. 1 singles – defeating No. 115-ranked Jett Middleton for his seventh dual win of the year, all coming in two sets.
 
Senior Rikuto Yamaguchi drew DU even with BSU at 2-2 with another win in straight sets for Denver, earning his first collegiate win at the No. 2 spot.
 
The Broncos moved within a point of the win after taking the No. 5 singles match in two sets before clinching the dual at No. 4 singles in what was the first of two matches to end in a final set.
 
DU freshman Rovai closed out the dual on a high note for Denver, capturing a 6-4 third-set win, also his first at No. 3 singles and his second dual victory in three sets.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team stays on the road for one more week, traveling to Wichita, Kansas, on February 15-16. DU will first play Boise State in a neutral-site match on Saturday, February 15, before playing at Wichita State on Sunday, February 16.
 
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