University of Memphis Athletics
Thursday, March 17
San Diego, Calif.
10:00 am (PT)
University of Memphis
vs
#30 Princeton University
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Men’s Tennis Back in Action in San Diego Beginning Thursday
Mar 16, 2016 | Men's Tennis
Tigers facing Princeton Thursday at 10 a.m. (PT)/Noon (CT)
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team, ranked No. 26 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranking, is back in action in California on Thursday as the Tigers are one of eight teams participating in the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic. Memphis will face another Tigers team, this one from #36 ranked Princeton, at 10 a.m. (PT) at San Diego State University, Thursday. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two Tiger teams. The winning team advances to face the winner of the match between #8 Texas Tech and #76 San Diego State, Friday.
Memphis returns to the San Diego State tournament after a one-year hiatus. In Memphis' last appearance in the tournament, the Tigers went 2-1, defeating hosts San Diego State and San Diego and falling 4-3 to Drake, a team they would face and defeat later that same season in the NCAA first round in Illinois, 4-3.
All eight teams in the 2016 tournament field are ranked, led by #8 ranked Texas Tech. They are followed by #26 Memphis, #28 Tulane, #34 San Diego and #36 Princeton among the top 40. Denver (#46), Harvard (#49) and San Diego State (#75) round out the tournament field.
In the San Diego State bracket, the tournament will open with Memphis' match against Princeton. At 2:00, Texas Tech will take on San Diego State, with the two winners and two losing teams facing one another on Friday. The winner of the San Diego State bracket will face the winner of the San Diego bracket, which opens with Tulane facing Denver and San Diego facing Harvard.
Memphis is 1-0 in neutral site matches so far this year, beating then-#37 ranked Louisville in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Classic. After a loss to #6 ranked Georgia, Memphis then went on a six-match winning streak that included three wins over top 35 ranked teams. Dating back to a Feb. 4 win at #27 ranked Vanderbilt, Memphis has played eight straight matches on the road against ranked opponents, including a competitive 4-2 loss at Pepperdine on Tuesday.
Kai Lemke and Shakeel Manji are looking to extend winning streaks that they started at Pepperdine. Both won in straight sets, pushing Lemke to 17-8 on the season and Manji to 4-4 in dual season singles play. Lemke also teamed with Louis Asser to play one doubles against a top 30 ranked opponent on Tuesday at Pepperdine. The duo came back from 4-3 down to get to 5-5 in the match before the doubles point was decided and the match abandoned. On the year, the tandem of Lemke and Asser has faced nine ranked opponents, including each of the last four matches.
Princeton comes in to the match-up with Memphis with an 11-4 overall record and with a two-match winning streak that includes 6-1 wins over #58 Indiana and #24 ranked Penn State. The Princeton Tigers have one ranked singles player, Alexander Day at #104, but teammate Diego Vives is making his push for the national rankings after a 6-1, 6-3 win over #59 ranked Leonard Stakhovsky of Penn State in his last match at number one. Princeton's Tom Calautti also got a win over a ranked opponent at three singles against Penn State, winning a tiebreaker in the third set at 3-3 as the match was already decided.
Princeton is one of three Ivy League opponents on Memphis' schedule this spring. Memphis defeated then No. 32 ranked Harvard, 6-0, back in February, and hosts #35 ranked Dartmouth on Mar. 24th in its next home match.
There will be no live stats from the tournament, but results will be posted on www.GoTigersGo.com at the completion of the match.
Memphis returns to the San Diego State tournament after a one-year hiatus. In Memphis' last appearance in the tournament, the Tigers went 2-1, defeating hosts San Diego State and San Diego and falling 4-3 to Drake, a team they would face and defeat later that same season in the NCAA first round in Illinois, 4-3.
All eight teams in the 2016 tournament field are ranked, led by #8 ranked Texas Tech. They are followed by #26 Memphis, #28 Tulane, #34 San Diego and #36 Princeton among the top 40. Denver (#46), Harvard (#49) and San Diego State (#75) round out the tournament field.
In the San Diego State bracket, the tournament will open with Memphis' match against Princeton. At 2:00, Texas Tech will take on San Diego State, with the two winners and two losing teams facing one another on Friday. The winner of the San Diego State bracket will face the winner of the San Diego bracket, which opens with Tulane facing Denver and San Diego facing Harvard.
Memphis is 1-0 in neutral site matches so far this year, beating then-#37 ranked Louisville in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Classic. After a loss to #6 ranked Georgia, Memphis then went on a six-match winning streak that included three wins over top 35 ranked teams. Dating back to a Feb. 4 win at #27 ranked Vanderbilt, Memphis has played eight straight matches on the road against ranked opponents, including a competitive 4-2 loss at Pepperdine on Tuesday.
Kai Lemke and Shakeel Manji are looking to extend winning streaks that they started at Pepperdine. Both won in straight sets, pushing Lemke to 17-8 on the season and Manji to 4-4 in dual season singles play. Lemke also teamed with Louis Asser to play one doubles against a top 30 ranked opponent on Tuesday at Pepperdine. The duo came back from 4-3 down to get to 5-5 in the match before the doubles point was decided and the match abandoned. On the year, the tandem of Lemke and Asser has faced nine ranked opponents, including each of the last four matches.
Princeton comes in to the match-up with Memphis with an 11-4 overall record and with a two-match winning streak that includes 6-1 wins over #58 Indiana and #24 ranked Penn State. The Princeton Tigers have one ranked singles player, Alexander Day at #104, but teammate Diego Vives is making his push for the national rankings after a 6-1, 6-3 win over #59 ranked Leonard Stakhovsky of Penn State in his last match at number one. Princeton's Tom Calautti also got a win over a ranked opponent at three singles against Penn State, winning a tiebreaker in the third set at 3-3 as the match was already decided.
Princeton is one of three Ivy League opponents on Memphis' schedule this spring. Memphis defeated then No. 32 ranked Harvard, 6-0, back in February, and hosts #35 ranked Dartmouth on Mar. 24th in its next home match.
There will be no live stats from the tournament, but results will be posted on www.GoTigersGo.com at the completion of the match.
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