University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Men’s Tennis Earns Fourth NCAA Bid in Five Years
May 03, 2016 | Men's Tennis
Memphis to face Mississippi State in the opening at Illinois.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team will be making its fourth NCAA appearance in four seasons, receiving one of 31 at-large bids to the field of 64, Tuesday. Memphis will face Mississippi State at the University of Illinois on May 13th at 2:00 p.m. The winner of that first round match will face the winner of the Illinois vs. Western Michigan match on Saturday at 4 p.m. The team that wins the Regional will advance to the Round of 16 in Tulsa.
"I'm just happy for these guys," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "Hopefully we can just relax and play well.
We made it three (NCAA tournaments) in a row, then those seniors graduated and we missed one year, so for these guys to get this experience, the thrill of making it in to the NCAA tournament is very satisfying."
This is the fourth NCAA berth in five seasons for the Tigers. Memphis made its first NCAA appearance in school history in 2012, falling to #25 ranked Baylor, 4-2, at Starkville, Miss. In 2013, Memphis won a conference championship to claim the automatic berth and advanced to the Round of 16, defeating BYU and Ole Miss before falling to Pepperdine in the Round of 16 in Champaign at the University of Illinois. Memphis made its last NCAA appearance in 2014, again travelling to Illinois, advancing to the second round after a 4-3 win over Drake before falling to host Illinois, 4-3.
The Tiger roster is very different compared to the program's last NCAA team. Only senior Louis Asser was on the Memphis roster in Memphis' last NCAA trip, and he had just joined Memphis in January of that spring.
In 2016, en route a 14-10 overall record, Memphis faced 12 teams that are in this year's tournament field, including wins over SMU, Ole Miss, Denver, Jackson State and Vanderbilt and road losses at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Baylor and Tulane. Memphis also had just one loss against an NCAA team on its home court, USF, the weekend before the American Athletic Conference Championships and a neutral site loss to Dartmouth as part of its difficult 2016 schedule.
"I feel like we're very battle-tested. We played a big schedule, played on the road a lot, played teams from a lot of the top conferences," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "We had to work through some injuries and tough matches and results, but to make the NCAA is fantastic."
Memphis was one of five American Athletic Conference teams to make the 2016 men's tournament field. USF, Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and Memphis all will continue play in the NCAA regional round starting May 13th.
"I'm just happy for these guys," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "Hopefully we can just relax and play well.
We made it three (NCAA tournaments) in a row, then those seniors graduated and we missed one year, so for these guys to get this experience, the thrill of making it in to the NCAA tournament is very satisfying."
This is the fourth NCAA berth in five seasons for the Tigers. Memphis made its first NCAA appearance in school history in 2012, falling to #25 ranked Baylor, 4-2, at Starkville, Miss. In 2013, Memphis won a conference championship to claim the automatic berth and advanced to the Round of 16, defeating BYU and Ole Miss before falling to Pepperdine in the Round of 16 in Champaign at the University of Illinois. Memphis made its last NCAA appearance in 2014, again travelling to Illinois, advancing to the second round after a 4-3 win over Drake before falling to host Illinois, 4-3.
The Tiger roster is very different compared to the program's last NCAA team. Only senior Louis Asser was on the Memphis roster in Memphis' last NCAA trip, and he had just joined Memphis in January of that spring.
In 2016, en route a 14-10 overall record, Memphis faced 12 teams that are in this year's tournament field, including wins over SMU, Ole Miss, Denver, Jackson State and Vanderbilt and road losses at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Baylor and Tulane. Memphis also had just one loss against an NCAA team on its home court, USF, the weekend before the American Athletic Conference Championships and a neutral site loss to Dartmouth as part of its difficult 2016 schedule.
"I feel like we're very battle-tested. We played a big schedule, played on the road a lot, played teams from a lot of the top conferences," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "We had to work through some injuries and tough matches and results, but to make the NCAA is fantastic."
Memphis was one of five American Athletic Conference teams to make the 2016 men's tournament field. USF, Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and Memphis all will continue play in the NCAA regional round starting May 13th.
Players Mentioned
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