Utah State Men's Tennis Ranked No. 2 in Final ITA Mountain Region Poll

Utah State men’s tennis finished the year ranked No. 2 in the Mountain Region, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association recently. Three teams from the state of Utah took the top three spots in the poll with Utah ranked first, the Aggies second and BYU third.

“Being ranked second in our region is an honor and a great accomplishment for our program,” head men’s tennis coach James Wilson said. “I can’t say it enough of how proud I am of what this team was able to do this past season. Our goal for next year is to be number one in the region, and hopefully next year we can get back on top.”

The top-10 poll was rounded out by UNLV in fourth, New Mexico in fifth, New Mexico State in sixth, Denver in seventh, Nevada in eighth, Idaho ranked ninth and Northern Arizona at No. 10.
Individually, USU senior Jaime Barajas finished his career No. 4 in singles in the Mountain Region, while sophomore Sergiu Bucur finished the year ranked No. 10. The duo was one of only two sets of teammates each appearing in the top 10, joining Utah’s Daniel Little (No. 2) and David Micevski (No. 7). 

Barajas also appeared in the final doubles rankings, coming in at No. 9 in the region with freshman doubles partner Jose Carvajal.

Utah State finished the 2017-18 campaign with an overall record of 19-9, including a perfect 7-0 mark in league play and captured both the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles. The season was punctuated by a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, where the Aggies lost 4-1 to No. 8 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.

USU was paced individually by Barajas with a 25-11 mark in singles, playing almost exclusively at the No. 1 spot, where he was 14-7 in dual-match play and earned all-Mountain West honors. He was followed by Carvajal (24-11), freshman Valdemar Holm (22-16), Addy Vashistha (22-8) and Bucur (20-17). Bucur also earned all-Mountain West honors in singles, while Carvajal picked up all-Mountain West accolades in doubles with Barajas.

In doubles, Carvajal and Barajas finished first and second with a 24-12 and 21-12 mark, respectively. Carvajal played in all three spots in the doubles lineup, while Barajas played entirely at No. 1 doubles during the dual-match season.

Fans can follow the Aggie men’s tennis program on Twitter @USUMensTennis, on Facebook at UtahStateMen’sTennis or on Instagram at @usutennis. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at @USUAthletics, on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on Instagram at @usuathletics.