No. 5 Men's Tennis splits on opening weekend

  MESA, AZ - The Mesa men's tennis team, Ranked No. 5 in the nation following the fall season, split a pair of matches on its first weekend.

  On Friday, the T-Birds fell to 27th-ranked NCAA Division II Western New Mexico, 7-2, but then bounced back for a 9-0 victory over Imperial Valley (Calif.) Saturday.

  Against WNMU the T-Birds got wins from Shimon Marakami at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-1, and Matt Fisher at No. 4, 6-4, 6-2.4  

  Taking on Imperial Valley, MCC won all matches in straight sets with Fisher winning at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Three other players lost just one game in their victories: Max Wightman at No. 3, Eduardo Cuoto at No. 5 and Linus Holthey at No. 6.

  MCC does not play a regular season match again until Feb. 25 when it entertains Paradise Valley in the first ACCAC match of the year at 1:30 p.m.