Like several University of Utah teams seem to be this year, the Utes' men's tennis team is young and inexperienced. Of the 12 members, one is a senior and one is a returning junior.
The second thing that stands out this year is that this team has a home-town flavor. Seven of the 12 players learned tennis on Salt Lake courts.This is, says head coach F.D. Robbins, the largest contingent of locals the Utes have had in his eight years of coaching.
"Which, I think, speaks well of the local tennis. These are good players . . . and I'm pleased they chose to come to Utah," he notes.
Locals include:
Brian Conner, a sophomore, who was a four-time state champ at Rowland Hall.
Brandon Hodges, a freshman, who was a high school all-American at Alta.
Alex Buxton, a freshman, who was also an all-American and a 4A state champ at No. 1 from Highland High.
Brad Hasna, a freshman, who was a 4A state champ at No. 1 for Cottonwood High, and was ranked No. 1 at one time in the Intermountain Division.
Brandon Owen, a sophomore, who was a state doubles champ at Highland, and after playing for the Utes in 1990-91, went on a mission for the LDS church.
Ryan Snow, a freshman, who was an all-American player from Skyline High.
And Darren Mansell, a junior, who was an all-American at Brighton High, went on an LDS mission, and transferred from BYU to Utah.
But this is definitely a rebuilding year for the Utes. Only two of the top eight players from last year's team returned.
One returning player is Toby Curtis, the only senior on the team. He played No. 1 for the Utes last season.
The other is Magnus Hjalmarson, a sophomore from Stockholm, Sweden. He played Nos. 5 and 6 last season.
This year, says Robbins, Curtis and Hjalmarson are sharing honors for the No. 1 spot. Playing No. 3 is a JC transfer, Ryan Johnston.
The two remaining members are Kristian Reynolds, a freshman from Westport, Conn., and Christian Svensson, a freshman and also from Stockholm.
Looking at the WAC, and his team, Robbins says the conference is strong, tennis-wise, this year.
"There are five teams that could win this year," he says.
(The WAC championships will be held in Provo, May 4-7.)
"New Mexico is the highest ranked team in the conference, but then there's San Diego, Fresno State, BYU and don't count us out. The fact that it will be in Provo will help the high-altitude teams."
A good test for the Utes will come this week when they play host to Fresno State (Friday at 6 p.m.) and San Diego (Saturday at 6 p.m.) in their own Eccles Tennis Center.
These will be the final home matches of the season for the Utes. Then they'll take to the road to play such powers at Southern California and Stanford, along with the rest of the WAC foes.
As for Utah's locals, they'll be battling for positions Nos. 5 and 6 in singles, and a spot on one of the doubles teams. Robbins says that decision will be a difficult one, "because they're all good players. It just depends on who's playing best on a particular day."
All Utah matches are free and open to spectators.