Men’s Tennis Hosting Pair of Regional Foes Friday

Friday, January 29

Memphis, Tenn.

12:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

Chattanooga

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Men’s Tennis Hosting Pair of Regional Foes Friday

Jan 28, 2016 | Men's Tennis

Memphis hosting Chattanooga and Murray State Friday.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – Before embarking on an 11-match road streak that includes at least eight ranked opponents (or up to 11 depending on the tournament draw in San Diego), the University of Memphis men's tennis team (1-2) will play one final home date, hosting regional foes Chattanooga and Murray State at The Racquet Club of Memphis on Friday.

Memphis will start the day with a noon indoor match against Chattanooga. The Mocs are 0-1 with one match postponed due to weather, but will have a little hometown energy with a pair of MUS grads on the roster in sophomore Michael Birnbaum and freshman Paul LaHue.

The Tigers counter with a young roster that features no seniors, one junior, four sophomores and three freshmen. Sophomore Ryan Peniston leads Memphis with 15 singles wins already this year, including a four-match winning streak that dates back to the fall slate. Peniston is also part of a doubles tandem that leads the team with a 2-1 mark as he and freshman Felix Rauch have won two straight at number two doubles.

Fellow sophomores Kai Lemke and Andrew Watson are also pushing toward the 15 singles win marks. Lemke is 12-5 and had his winning streak snapped in a three-set loss at number six Georgia on Sunday night. Watson pushed a ranked opponent three sets as well, including a second set tiebreak, in a loss, but is 11-5 on the year and is 7-3 in his last 10 completed matches. Freshman Chris Patzanovsky is looking to push to the 10-win mark. The German is 1-1 at number four singles on the year and is teaming with Watson to play three doubles, where they are 1-1.

Memphis plays Murray State, guided by former Tiger and recent USTA Southern Hall of Fame inductee Mel Purcell. The Racers also lost their season-opening match to weather and will be playing their first competitive dual matches of the spring starting at 6:00, Friday.

The Tigers then vacate The Racquet Club of Memphis for competitive matches to make way for the ATP250 Memphis Open. The Tigers will head west on I40 for a pair of non-conference matches against some ranked opponents, facing No. 28 Vanderbilt, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. and No. 33 Harvard, Feb. 5, at 5 p.m. in Nashville.