Courtesy of Utah State Athletics
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men’s tennis will make its third-ever team appearance at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship, drawing a matchup against No. 9 Oklahoma in the First Round on Friday, May 1, at 1 p.m. (MT), in Norman, Oklahoma.
“That is why I came to Utah State was to win,” head coach Aaron Paajanen said. “When I left Detroit, we were having some success there so I knew that my next stop, I wanted to go somewhere I could win. We’ve been able to do that but just haven’t been able to get over the hump of winning the conference tournament and getting into the NCAAs. Glad we could finally do it and do it with this group. They’re excited.”
The Aggies and Sooners have met only one time previously as Oklahoma scored a 7-0 victory in Norman in 2016. USU is 0-4 all-time against current members of the SEC with previous matchups also against Georgia, Michigan and Texas.
Utah State earned its spot in the tournament with three victories in three days to win the Mountain West Tournament. The Aggies defeated No. 8 Nevada, 4-0, in the opening round before defeating No. 4 UNLV and No. 3 Boise State each by 4-3 in the semifinal and championship, respectively. Senior Jean-Baptiste Badon led the Aggies and was named MW Tournament MVP after going 3-1 across singles and doubles play and earning the clinching point in the title match with a three-set victory at No. 1 singles, outlasting his Bronco opponent in a third-set tiebreaker to claim the Aggies’ first conference tournament title since 2018.
USU also went undefeated against conference competition in the regular season, going 7-0 against MW foes for Utah State’s first unbeaten conference season since 2018. Additionally, the Aggies went a perfect 8-0 at home in the regular season, also doing so for the first time since 2018.
The Aggies made their first-ever team appearance at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship in 2017, falling to Northwestern in the opening round, 4-2. USU also made it back the following year in 2018 before again dropping its opening match to TCU, 4-1. Utah State’s lone other appearance at the NCAA tournament came in 1970 with three singles players and one doubles partnership earning invites.
Fans can follow USU’s men’s tennis team on Twitter @USUMensTennis, on Facebook at /UtahStateMensTennis or on Instagram at USUMensTennis. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
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