Cal Poly Opens 2023 Season Saturday Against No. 4 Michigan

Saturday, January 28

Ann Arbor, MI

7 A.M.

University of Michigan

Cal Poly Opens 2023 Season Saturday Against No. 4 Michigan

1/25/2023 3:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Following a season in which the Mustangs claimed their second straight Big West regular season championship, the Cal Poly men's tennis team will begin the 2023 season this weekend when it travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Cal Poly will open play Saturday morning at 7 a.m. PT against No. 4 Michigan. The winner of this match will play on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT against the winner of Saturday's match between Arkansas and No. 24 ranked Northwestern. The losers of both matches will face off Sunday at 7 a.m. PT. Live scoring and video streaming will be available for fans to follow online at this link. Michigan entered the season as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, recently jumping up to No. 4 after getting off to a 4-0 start. The Wolverines (4-0) handed losses to Boston University, Brown, Cleveland State and No. 6 Tennessee. The Wolverines are coming off a 2022 season which saw them compile a record of 25-4 while winning the Big Ten Tournament and reaching the NCAA Elite Eight. Michigan returns all but one player from its lineup a season ago and adds three newcomers. They are led by four top-ranked singles players as well as a top-15 ranked doubles team. The Mustangs and Wolverines last met in 2017, in which Michigan came out on top. Northwestern comes into the weekend ranked No. 24 in the nation. The Wildcats (3-1) began their season with victories against Notre Dame, Chicago State and No. 19 NC State, while falling to Louisville. Northwestern is following a season in which they went 20-11 with three All-Big Ten honorees and a bid to the NCAA tournament. Like the Wolverines, Arkansas (4-0) enters the week undefeated. The Razorbacks are coming off a season in which they finished with a record of 15-14. Sunday's matchup will be Cal Poly's first contest against either team. Cal Poly returns seven members of its 2022 roster, five of which earned All-Conference honors. They include junior Noah Berry (First Team Singles, Honorable Mention Doubles), redshirt juniors Fernando Fonseca (Honorable Mention Doubles), Joe Leather (First Team Doubles, Second Team Singles) and Colter Smith (Second Team Doubles, Honorable Mention Singles), and sophomore Bastiaan Weststrate (Second Team Doubles.) In addition to the seven returners, the Mustangs have welcomed two incoming freshmen in Aaron Eliscu and Zachary Pellouchoud, both of which were top-100 high school recruits. Head coach Nick Carless returns for his 11th season with the program and assistant coach Jurgen De Jager returns to the coaching staff for his third season. De Jager spent his last two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach before being promoted in early August of 2022. Berry, ranked No. 55 in the ITA National Singles Rankings, is looking to build off of his success last season and this fall. During the fall, Berry made it to the round of 16 in singles play at the ITA Regional Championships held at Pepperdine while playing against some of the top collegiate players on the west coast. Following the tournament this weekend, Cal Poly will travel to Utah next weekend where they will face off against BYU and the University of Utah. Throughout the regular season, the Mustangs are scheduled to compete in 21 matches, 11 at home and 10 on the road.

Story by: Brenden Fisher, Cal Poly Athletics