DENVER – The Metropolitan State University of Denver men's and women's tennis teams have had their share of road trips in 2018-19 and are about to go on their longest one yet this season.
 
"We're excited to head on yet another road trip and play some quality opponents," coach Josh Graetz (Albury, Australia/The Scots School) said. "I think we've had a really solid week of practice leading up, so I'm excited to see how we do."  
 
The MSU Denver men and women will each play four matches in four days. They start their respective quartets of competition at Newman (Kan.) on Monday at 11 a.m. MT.
 
The Roadrunners then travel to a trio of schools in Missouri, consisting of Rockhurst (Mo.) on Tuesday, Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday and Lindenwood (Mo.) on Thursday with start times of 1 p.m., 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. MT, respectively.
 
The entire road trip will take approximately 29 hours without traffic and will cover roughly 1,976 miles in distance.
 
MSU Denver's men, who are fifth in the South Central Region, will have their work cut out for them as three out of the four teams they will face are regionally ranked. Newman (4-10) is ranked eighth in the South Central Region while Northwest Missouri State (5-3) and Lindenwood (0-7) have respective ranks of fourth and 10th in the Central Region. Though not ranked, Rockhurst has a record of 7-5.
 
Despite losing their last four matches, the MSU Denver men (2-7) have had some impressive performances during that span.
 
The twosome of senior Joey Tscherne (Sylmar, Calif./John F. Kennedy) and junior Mateo Besada (Buenos Aires, Argentina/SEADEA) won back-to-back No. 1 doubles matches against St. Edward's (Texas) on March 7 and Southern Arkansas on March 8. They beat their Hilltoppers opponents, 6-2, and defeated their Mulerider foes, 7-6 (2).
 
Junior Alejandro Martinez-Morilla (Madrid, Spain/I.E. Valdecas) defeated his No. 3 singles opponent from No. 24 Cameron (Okla.) on March 9 with a score of 6-4, 6-3.
 
Sophomore Daniel Llorente (Malaga, Spain/) had a three-set thriller on his hands against No. 17 Midwestern State (Texas) on March 8, when he bested his No. 2 singles foe, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Llorente also took care of business in No. 2 singles earlier that day, beating his Southern Arkansas competitor, 7-5, 6-3. 
 
Besada additionally outscored his No. 4 singles St. Edward's opponent, 6-3, in straight sets.
 
The MSU Denver women (5-8), fifth in the South Central Region, will face off against a pair of regionally ranked teams of their own in Newman (9-7), the ninth-ranked team in the South Central Region, and Northwest Missouri State (8-2), which ranks eighth in the Central Region. Rockhurst and Lindenwood have respective records of 6-6 and 0-4.
 
Despite five straight losses, Roadrunners on the women's side have had notable performances as well.
 
Junior Eliza McKean (Buderim, Queensland, Australia/Sunshine Coast Grammar School) and freshman Olivia Kaiser (Aachen, Germany/Bischoefliches Gymnasium St. Ursula, Geilenkirchen) won their last two No. 3 doubles matches against Cameron on March 9 and Southern Arkansas on March 10. The two women beat their Aggies opponents, 6-4, before besting their Muleriders competition, 6-2.
 
In the latter match, junior Tabitha Porter (Auckland, New Zealand/Northcote College) and freshman Helena Steenberg (Skodsborg, Denmark/Naerum Gymnasium, Naerum, Denmark) additionally triumphed in No. 1 doubles, winning by a score of 6-2.
 
Stay tuned to RoadrunnersAthletics.com for updates on MSU Denver's road trip.