UConn Men’s Tennis. (Photo by Amar Barta/The Daily Campus)
The UConn men’s tennis team will travel to Cambridge to take on Boston University Saturday at 5 p.m. at MIT.
The Huskies will look to get back to their winning ways after suffering a tough 4-3 defeat against Villanova in Manchester last Saturday. UConn claimed the doubles point for the third straight match against the Wildcats and will likely need to continue its strong play in doubles to earn a win against BU. Sophomore Yili Zheng and sophomore John Michael Holtmann will carry momentum from clutch three-set victories at first and second singles respectively, against Villanova.
Senior Hank Hill (No. 3 singles), senior Justin Warren (No. 5 singles) and freshman Christian Provenzano (No. 6 singles) will hope to bounce back from straight-set defeats. After falling in a tight three-set battle that allowed the Wildcats to clinch the match, senior Jack McLister will have extra motivation to pick up a win at third singles at BU.
“His effort and leadership is what makes this team go,” associate head coach Reinaldo Valor said of McLister after his loss Saturday. “I know he will be in the position to clinch another match this year and no doubt he will clinch it.”
Although UConn and BU have not yet met in a team match this season, several Huskies and Terriers squared off in the fall at the UConn invitational on Sept. 14-15 in Storrs. Zheng fell to David Bogatin 6-3 in flight A of the competition, Hill and Holtmann both lost to Max Hartenstein in straight sets in Flight B, and Zheng and Hill lost as a doubles team to Owen Lu and Max Stehling.
UConn currently holds a 7-6 record, but are just 1-4 on the road this season. BU is 3-7 yet are undefeated in the two home matches they’ve played. Each team boasts a win over Fairfield and Sacred Heart, while both were beaten by Boston College and swept by East Carolina.
Story Salit is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus and can be reached via email at story.salit@uconn.edu.
