Jan. 16, 2004
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's men's tennis team recorded its first win against Air Force in school history Friday afternoon, downing the Falcons 4-3. USU was previously 0-5 all-time versus the Falcons. With the win the Aggies start the season 1-0, while the Falcons go to 0-1.
"This is a great win for our program," said head coach Chris Wright. "Every match was hard-fought and each player did a fantastic job of picking-up points when they needed them. It's always nice to win your first match, it's even better when it comes against such a talented team."
The Falcons pounced on the Aggies first as they recorded the doubles point with wins at the number one and number two positions. The Falcon duo of McClung and Buck was able to take control in number one doubles as they defeated the Aggie tandem of Hannes Schenk and Hungsoon Park, 8-3. In number two doubles, Aggies Jonah Nelson and Roshan Rasekhi went the distance before falling to Justin Mancinelli and Chris Dong, 9-8. USU showed toughness at number three doubles as Jason Trask and Ryan Bair took it to Trevor Johnson and Justin Lau, winning 8-3.
Singles action saw five of the six matches go three sets as USU picked-up wins at the number two through five spots to secure the win. Roshan Rasekhi and Hannes Schenk tallied the Aggies' first two wins on the afternoon to put the Aggies up 2-1. Rasekhi, who transferred to USU from BYU-Hawai'i, out-lasted Trevor Johnson in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Schenk also recorded a three-set win as he defeated the Falcons' Tyler McClung, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
Hungsoon Park, playing at the number one spot for the Aggies, dropped a three set nail-biter to Air Force's Shannon Buck who has been ranked as high as 35th in the country, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. With Park losing, the pressure was put on USU's Jason Trask and Jonah Nelson to notch wins at number four and five singles, respectively. Both players managed to tally wins as Trask defeated Justin Mancinelli 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, and Nelson downed Chris Dong, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 to secure the win. With the match already decided, USU's Ryan Bair lost to Air Force's Justin Lau, 2-6, 6-7.
USU is back in action on Jan. 23 as it travels to BYU. The match is slated to start at 2 p.m.
UTAH STATE 4, AIR FORCE 3Singles#1-Shannon Buck (AFA) def. Hungsoon Park (USU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3#2-Roshan Rasekhi (USU) def. Trevor Johnson (AFA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4#3-Hannes Schenk (USU) def. Tyler McClung (AFA) 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4#4-Jason Trask (USU) def. Justin Mancinelli (AFA) 7-6, 6-7, 7-6#5-Jonah Nelson (USU) def. Chris Dong (AFA) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6#6-Justin Lau (AFA) def. Ryan Bair (USU) 2-6, 6-7Doubles#1-McClung/Buck (AFA) def. Park/Schenk (USU) 8-3#2-Mancinelli/Dong (AFA) def. Nelson/Rasekhi (USU) 9-8#3-Trask/Bair (USU) def. Johnson/Lau (AFA) 8-3
