Toledo, Ohio - The University of Toledo men's tennis team hits the road this weekend with matches at Youngstown State on Friday and Duquesne on Sunday. The match against Youngstown State will be at 3:00 p.m. at the Western Reserve Tennis Center in Streetsboro, Ohio. Sunday's match against Duquesne will be at 11:00 a.m. at Alpha Tennis & Fitness of Pittsburgh in Harmar, Pa. 
 
The Rockets return to the court a week after their 6-1 victories over Wayne State and Denison at Shadow Valley. Seniors Luka Vitosevic and Omar Espinosa, as well as junior Danilo Vukotic, went 2-0 in singles for the weekend. Espinosa/Vitosevic and senior/freshman duo Juan Carranza/Cole Shoults went 2-0 in doubles play. 
 
Scouting Youngstown State 
Last season YSU went 12-11, 5-2 in the Horizon League. The Penguins recorded five regular season sweeps and swept Wright State 4-0 in the Horizon League quarterfinals before falling to Cleveland State in the semifinal match. 
 
Senior Danylo Veremeichuk finished the 2017-18 season with a 22-12 record and was a selection for First-Team All-Horizon League. Veremeichuk swept his opponent in two sets at the Horizon League quarterfinals against Wright State before falling in three sets to Cleveland State's Nico Mostardi in the semifinals. Veremichuck had a 21-9 doubles record. Fellow senior Yossi Dahan posted a 18-13 singles record overall last season (including dual matches and tournaments) and went 18-11 in doubles play. 
 
The Penguins are currently 2-3 this season, with wins over St. Bonaventure (5-2) and Duquesne (4-3). Butler, DePaul, and Valparaiso each defeated YSU 6-1 this month. 
 
Last Time Against Youngstown State 
Toledo opened play at the fall Rocket Invitational against Youngstown State at the UT Varsity Courts. Espinosa/senior Serjen Olmedo defeated their opponents in doubles play while Vukotic, senior Vince Anzalone, and sophomore Tyler Gargas picked up wins against Joao Garretto, Yossi Dahan, and Erik Gran in singles action. During the last day of the tournament Gargas defeated Dahan in two sets. 
 
The Rockets clinched a 4-3 victory over Youngstown State in their last dual match meeting on Feb. 17, 2017. Despite the Penguins taking the doubles point, the Rockets chipped away at YSU in singles play, where Stjepan Sisko, Vitosevic and Olmedo won at the No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 positions, respectively. Senior Reid Teatsorth sealed the victory for the Rockets after a three-set thriller against Luke Purser (6-4, 1-6, 7-6). 
 
Scouting Duquesne
Last Season Duquesne went 13-8 with a 4-3 record in the Atlantic-10. The Dukes clinched four 4-3 tight victories during the regular season over Youngstown State, George Mason, Detroit Mercy, and Radford, their only solid sweep coming from the A-10 tournament against St. Bonaventure. Shortly after, DU fell to Dayton in the quarterfinals. 
 
Seniors Drew Akins, Dane Bendel, and Chris Corrao lead this year's team. 
 
The Dukes are currently 2-3 on the season with victories over Oberlin (7-0) and Carnegie Mellon (6-1). DU dropped two close 4-3 matches to Navy and Youngstown State and lost 6-1 to Cleveland State. 
 
Last Time Against Duquesne
Toledo met up with Duquesne in this season's fall Rocket Invitational tournament at the UT Varsity Courts. During the first day of action duos junior Thawin Suksathaporn/Vukotic and sophomore Nikola Arsic/Carranza swept their opponents in doubles play. Anzalone defeated Chris Corrao in two sets, while Espinosa and Shoults defeated Alex Mascioli and Graham Conron, respectively, in three. During the last day of the tournament Vitosevic and Olmedo picked up wins against Joey Matthews and Conron in singles play.
 
In their last dual match meeting the Rockets defeated Duquesne 6-1 on Jan. 27, 2017 in Maumee. Duos Anzalone/Olmedo and Carranza/Teatsorth defeated their opponents to clinch the doubles point. In singles action Anzalone defeated Adam Blasinsky 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot and Teatsorth defeated Tim Kane 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 4 singles spot. At No. 3 singles Vitosevic settled in for a three-set challenge against Drew Akins, defeating Akins 6-3 in the first set before falling 6-7 in the second. Vitosevic rallied to take the third set 10-8.