Three Aggies earn Mountain West honors as USU prepares Mountain West men’s tennis championships

LOGAN, Utah – Sophomore Jose Carvajal and freshmen Isaac Arevalo Gómez and Rithvik Bollipalli earned all-Mountain West honors, as selected by the conference’s head coaches and announced on Wednesday. Carvajal and Arevalo Gómez each earned all-MW in singles, while Arevalo Gómez was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Moreover, Carvajal and Bollipalli were named all-MW in doubles.

Overall, it is the third all-conference honor for Carvajal, the first and second for Arevalo Gómez and the first for Bollipalli. Arevalo Gómez and Bollipalli are the third and fourth freshman to earn an all-conference award in program history.

Arevalo Gómez became the first Aggie to earn Freshman of the Year honors as he played exclusively at the No. 1 spot, recording 11 singles wins in the dual match season, including two singles wins against Mountain West opponents. Arevalo Gómez defeated one nationally ranked opponent in UCSB’s then-ranked No. 25 Joseph Guillin, which was the highest ranked opponent an Aggie has defeated in program history. The Mazatlan, Mexico native was also ranked 111th by the ITA on March 5, which is the highest ranking by an Aggie in program history. Arevalo Gómez won two Utah State athlete of the week awards this season and was named the Mountain West men’s tennis player of the week once.

During the fall, Arevalo Gómez defeated New Mexico’s Dominic West 6-2, 6-3, in the singles final at the Midland Invitational in Midland, Texas, becoming the first Aggie since Tomas Cosmai in 2014 to capture a fall tournament title. He started the fall season 5-0 in singles play, which is the best start for an Aggie freshman since Tanner Dance went 3-1 in 2009.

Carvajal recorded a career-high 15 singles wins in the dual match season at the Nos. 2 through 5 spots, including a perfect 4-0 mark in conference play at the No. 2 spot and a 1-0 ledger at the No. 3 spot. Carvajal went 6-3 at the No. 2 spot, 2-0 at both the 3 and 4 spots, and 5-1 at the No. 5 spot. Carvajal clinched two victories for the Aggies, including a conference win at Nevada with a 4-0 final as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 triumph.

Carvajal and Bollipalli posted a 3-2 dual match record, all at the No. 1 spot and all in Mountain West play. The tandem clinched the doubles point for the Aggies against Boise State (6-4) last Saturday.

Utah State men’s tennis will enter the Mountain West Men’s Tennis Championships as the No. 2 seed and will face the seventh-seeded Boise State Broncos in the first match of the tournament on Thursday, April 25, at 4 p.m. (MT).

Utah State came away with a 4-0 victory over Boise State in their regular season finale on Saturday, April 20, in Boise. Juniors Sergiu Bucur and Duro Opacic earned a 6-3 win at the No. 3 doubles, while Bollipalli and Carvajal clinched the doubles point at the top spot with a 6-4 final. Opacic and Carvajal then posted wins at No. 6 and No. 2 singles, before sophomore Felipe Acosta sealed the win for the Aggies with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph at the No. 4 spot.

A Utah State victory would result in a semifinal contest against the winner of the 3/6 match between Fresno State (15-10, 5-2 MW) and Nevada (11-10, 2-5 MW). The semifinal will take place on Friday, April 26, at 4 p.m. (MT). USU was victorious in the meetings between the two programs this season after a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs and a 4-0 win over the Wolf Pack.

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