Next Match:
at Gonzaga
3/25/2026 | 12 p.m. MT
Mar. 25 (Wed) / 12 p.m. MT
at Gonzaga
SAN LUIS OBISPO, California – The University of Denver men’s tennis team (9-5, 0-0 Summit) started its week with a 4-3 win at Cal Poly in a rare Monday afternoon match.
After DU jumped out to a 2-0 lead with wins in doubles and at No. 5 singles, Cal Poly responded with three consecutive singles victories, putting the pressure of Denver senior Raffaello Papajcik and sophomore Theo Coats, both of whom came through with three-set wins to secure the dual for DU.
Doubles:
For the fourth consecutive dual, Denver came away with the doubles point, doing so with wins in the two matches that reached a conclusion. Starting things off was the No. 3 team of Papajcik and freshman Aaron Beduhn, who won a doubles match by an identical scoreline of 6-3 for the third time in their last three matches. A break in the third game gave them the initial lead, which they stretched to 5-2 before serving it out at 6-3.
Senior Ryoma Mishiro and sophomore Samuel Rovai clinched the point for Denver – their first time doing so in 2026 – after completing a comeback from a break down. They began their rally after falling behind, 1-3, before drawing level at 3-3 and earning what would be the decisive break in the ninth game before closing it out, 6-4.
On the top court, graduate student Connor Robb-Wilcox and Coats were knotted up at 5-5 when the match was abandoned, though the Pioneers had fought back from a break down midway through the match.
Singles:
Singles featured swings in favor of both teams, ending with back-to-back victories for Denver players to clinch the dual.
Robb-Wilcox grabbed the day’s first singles point, doing so with his fifth straight-sets win of the year so far. His match began on serve until he broke midway through on his way to a 6-3 first set. With momentum from the back half of the opening frame, he breezed through the second set, losing just a single game and closing things out at 6-1.
Cal Poly proved the dual would be a battle after winning the Nos. 1 and 6 singles matches in two sets – but needing a tiebreak in the first set to get past Rovai on the top court. The host team took its first and only lead at 3-2 overall after taking the No. 4 match, the first of three that went to decisive sets on the day and after DU’s Mishiro rallied from a set down to force the third set.
Another Pioneer was faced with a deficit after the first set in Coats, but he was able to complete the comeback at No. 3 singles to draw the overall scoreboard even at 3-3. An untimely break in the final game of the first set forced the sophomore into a hole early, though he responded with his own late break in the second to send the match to a decisive frame. He broke to open the third set and consolidated for 2-0, then added a second break in the seventh game and served it out at 6-2 to keep DU alive in the dual.
Everything came down to another three-set fight at No. 2 singles. Papajcik held a break early in his first set, but Cal Poly’s Raz Haviv got back on serve shortly afterward. Things remained tight until Papajcik again claimed a break, this time to take it, 7-5. The players traded leads in the second set, but this time in was Haviv who got the late break and forced the third set, which started on serve. Papajcik broke for a 3-2 lead in the final set and was able to hold his serve before breaking once more in what would be the last game for a 6-3 win.
Up Next:
The University of Denver men’s tennis team ends its six-match road trip with a midweek match up at Gonzaga on Wednesday, March 25, at 11 a.m. PT/12 p.m. MT.