University of Memphis Athletics
Felsenthal and Spence Named C-USA Players of the Week
Feb 22, 2005 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2005
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Senior men's tennis player Scott Felsenthal (Memphis, Tenn./White Station) and doubles partner James Spence (Christchurch, New Zealand) were named the Conference USA men's tennis players of the week and broke into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), Tuesday afternoon. They are now the No. 58 ranked doubles team in the country.
"That's great that they're ranked and to get recognized by the conference the same day," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "I looked at the rankings and have been wondering where we would rank. We've played such a tough schedule that it's been really hard to gauge where we are. We have a No. 3 doubles team that is 7-0 and now our No. 1 team is ranked, hopefully that will give us some confidence this weekend."
The No. 1 singles duo used a 9-7 win over then-No. 10 Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto of Mississippi State to earn the Tigers' first league recognition of the year and the first national ranking of the season for any member of the Tiger team.
The duo, which is now 4-3 at No. 1 doubles for the spring dual season, is 6-6 on the season at the top doubles spot.
Memphis will travel to TCU to participate in one of two Conference USA shootouts this weekend. The Tigers will face yet another ranked opponent in the opening round, as DePaul broke into the national team rankings this week at No. 75. The winner of the DePaul/Memphis match from Friday will face No. 13 TCU, the host team, Saturday, at 1:30 p.m.
To date, Memphis has faced five nationally-ranked opponents, all on the road (No. 20 Vanderbilt, No. 25 Tennessee, No. 44 Tulsa, No. 26 Oklahoma State and No. 33 Mississippi State). With at least one more ranked opponent at this weekend's shootout, the Tigers will face a difficult stretch.
"This will be our tough stretch," Goebel said. "We have three tough teams to face this weekend in league play, then we turn around and go play at Ole Miss, and I think they're one of the top three or four teams in the country."
Ole Miss is ranked fifth in the poll released Tuesday. The Tigers will face Ole Miss, Mar. 2nd, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Oxford.
Players Mentioned
