PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com – Apr. 11, 2014) — The Colorado State University-Pueblo men's tennis team will take on two of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's top teams while trying to earn a higher seed in next weekend's conference championship tournament this weekend.
The ThunderWolves, who are 6-10 overall and 2-1 in RMAC action, host Western New Mexico on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Pueblo Central High School before returning to their normal home of Pueblo City Park on Sunday for an 11 a.m. clash with Colorado Mesa.
The matches are the last of the regular season and will be the last home affairs for seniors Saul Shrom (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) and Alexandro Moncayo-Samperio (Veracruz, Mexico).
Entering what is a busy weekend of RMAC tennis, the Pack are in third place in the conference standings but could finish as high as first or as low as fifth depending on results from the weekend.
The top two teams will receive byes in the quarterfinal round of the RMAC Tournament, to be played next Friday and Saturday (Apr. 18-19) in Grand Junction.
Western New Mexico enters a 3-match weekend, which includes Friday matches in Denver against Montana State-Billings and Metro State with an 6-8 official record. The Mustangs are also 2-0 in RMAC play and are ranked fifth in the initial set of NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings, which were announced Thursday.
The Mustangs are also tabbed eighth in the latest set of Intercollegiate Tennis Association's South Central Region (Mar. 19) rankings and have the sixth-ranked singles player in Rodrigo Almieda, the reigning RMAC Player of the Week. Almeida and Juan Pablo Fuentes are also the region's sixth ranked doubles pairing according to the ITA. Almieda is also ranked 44th nationally by the ITA and has posted an 8-5 record in the No. 1 singles position. He and Fuentes are also 7-3 at No. 1 doubles.
Colorado Mesa, which will play against Montana State-Billings and Metro State on Saturday before heading south to face the Pack, is currently 8-8 overall and 1-2 in RMAC action. The Mavericks are ranked seventh in the official NCAA regional rankings and currently sit sixth in the ITA rankings. Their top player Jordan Lyden is ranked first in the region and 28th nationally by the ITA. He is an impressive 12-4 at No. 1 singles this season and holds a 19-5 overall record, including his individual tournament run to the USTA/ITA Small College National Championships in October.
The Pack have been led by Marcelo Chaparro (So., Bogota, Colombia) this spring. He is 10-4 in singles play at the No. 5 and 6 positions.
Shrom, who has been at the No. 1 singles spot throughout the season, is currently ranked 14th in the region by the ITA while freshman Emir Machado (Caracas, Venezuela) is tabbed 15th. He has been playing at the No. 2 singles position. The two have also teamed up to post a winning 8-6 record at the No. 1 doubles spot.
The addition of Joao De Silveria (Fr., Sao Paulo, Brazil) to the lineup has also been big for the Pack. De Silveria has won three straight matches and is 6-3 in singles play this season. Meanwhile, Trung Le (Jr., Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam) has posted a respectable 7-7 record in the No. 4 singles spot this spring. He, and No. 3 singles player Sergio Avella (So., Sogamoso, Colombia), who is 8-8 overall, are both 2-1 in RMAC matches as is Machado. De Silveria is 2-0 in RMAC affairs.
