BYU slipped by the Denver men’s tennis team 4-3 at Denver Tennis Park on Friday, February 27.  It was a very close match, and it came down to the #5 singles match to decide the day.  DU’s Connor Robb-Wilcox won the first set at 6-2, but then BYU’s Caden Hasler took the tight second set at 7-5, and Hasler then taking the third set at 6-4.

For anyone who has not attended a men’s college match, there is a lot of action with both squads verbally supporting their teammates.  I would call the atmosphere “noisy”.  It is fun to watch!  Unlike professional tennis, college tennis allows coaching on the court, and this can be done between points.  DU now has a 5-4 record (0-0 Summit League), and BYU remains undefeated at 10-0 and ranked #57 (ITA).  ITA ranks the top 75 teams.

The match starts with three doubles matches, and the team that wins two of those matches gets one single point.  That single point ended up being decisive.  Denver #2 team of Connor Robb-Wilcox and Theo Coats picked up the first win at 6-2.  Only one set is played.  BYU evened things up with a 6-3 win over the Pio’s #3 team of Raffaelo Papjcik and Aaron Beduhn.  The doubles session was decided with the #1 DU team of sophomore Samuel Ravai and senior Ryoma Mishiro losing in a tight match at 5-7.

Seven total points are awarded in a Division I college tennis match.  Six of those points come from six singles matches.  Denver’s Raffaelo Papjcik was victorious at 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.   Two more points were secured with DU’s #2 player, Samuel Rovai, gliding to victory at 6-3, 6-2 and Aaron Beduhn (#6 player) won 6-4, 7-6.  That makes three points for the Pioneers.

Denver was picked take the 2026 Summit League men’s tennis title in pre-season voting with five first-place votes.  Omaha received one vote.  DU has dominated the Summit League with 10 regular-season championships.   The team can expect a more competitive schedule when Denver joins the West Coast Conference next year.  The Pios ended last season ranked #50 in the country after advancing to the NCAA National Championships for a 10th time. DU was a perfect 5-0 in Summit League play in 2025.

The Pioneers start a six-match road trip on Sunday, March 1, with a match at Air Force. at 11 am.