DENVER – The MSU Denver men's and women's tennis teams have arrived at the final two weeks of their regular seasons.
The men have four duals left, while the women have five.
The lineup includes matches this weekend at the Assembly Athletic Complex, with both Roadrunners teams facing Colorado Mesa at 2 p.m. Friday and Colorado College at 11 a.m. Sunday.
In between, on Saturday, the MSU Denver women play CSU-Pueblo at 2 p.m.
The dual against Colorado Mesa – as well as a return trip to Grand Junction, Colo., next weekend – could impact qualifying and positioning for the Pacific West Conference Tournament.
"It's always a big one against Colorado Mesa," MSU Denver coach
Josh Graetz said.
The MSU Denver men (8-3) are ranked 43
rd in NCAA Division II and are No. 6 in the latest PacWest rankings – the top eight teams are invited to the PacWest Tournament.
The MSU Denver women (5-8) are 10
th in the PacWest, despite having better overall records than two teams ranked higher. A total of 12 teams are invited to the PacWest women's tournament.
"I'm a bit disappointed at where the women are ranked," Graetz said. "The guys are probably where they should be."
The Colorado Mesa men are 3-13 for the season, while the Maverick women are 7-11.
CSU-Pueblo's women are 0-6 against four-year schools. Colorado College, a Division III school, has an 8-4 record on the men's side, while the women are 5-7.
Updated Division II rankings are due to come out Thursday and MSU Denver's
Ava Neuburger-Higby and
Jeanloup Auzias could potentially crack the individual top 50 for women and men, respectively.
Neuburger-Higby, a true freshman, went 3-1 during last week's trip to California to play top PacWest opponents, losing only to all-conference performer Colbeyshae Emery of 10
th-ranked Biola (Calif.) in three sets while improving to 12-6.
"She beat three really good girls and lost to a girl who has been highly-ranked in the country," Graetz said. "She's playing at a really high level. She's doing a heck of a job."
Auzias (10-6) went 2-2 last week, falling to 19
th-ranked Sebastian Herrera of Biola and 45
th-ranked Leon Czarnikau while also earning a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 28 Tyler Davis of Point Loma (Calif.).
"We won that match 4-3," Graetz said. "If he doesn't beat a nationally-ranked guy, we don't beat that team."
