Men’s Tennis Hosting Michigan State and LSU in Opening Weekend

Friday, January 20

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

Michigan State University

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Men’s Tennis Hosting Michigan State and LSU in Opening Weekend

Jan 19, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Both matches will be played indoors at The Racquet Club of Memphis.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team may have scheduled its strongest opening weekend in program history and first serves on the 2017 season go up at 7 p.m. on Friday. Memphis, who qualified for their fourth NCAA tournament trip in five seasons last year, will start their drive back toward the NCAA field by hosting Big 10 foe Michigan State, Friday, then hosting SEC foe LSU, Sunday, at 1 p.m.

How to Follow the Matches
Live scoring at Memphis.Statbroadcast.com
Facebook.com/MemphisMensTennis
Twitter: @UofMTennis

Where/When
                Memphis vs. Michigan State | Friday | 7 p.m. | The Racquet Club of Memphis
                Memphis vs LSU | Sunday | 1 p.m. | The Racquet Club of Memphis
                Cost: Admission is free, match is played on Stadium Courts indoors

About Memphis (0-0):
    Memphis is coming off a 14-11 season that saw them qualify for the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five seasons, but for the first time in the stints of the current junior class. Ryan Peniston, who was a first team all-conference singles player last season, won the Ohio Valley Regional singles title this fall, after going 27-10 last season in singles. That 27-10 mark included a 6-3 mark at one singles and an 8-3 mark at two. Andrew Watson, the 2015 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, went 22-9 overall last year, including a 7-5 mark at one singles and a 5-1 mark at two. Peniston and freshmen Jan Pallares and Turner Voges each posted nine wins in the fall in singles play, with Watson adding eight and Shakeel Manji finishing with seven. Watson captured the consolation singles title at the Oracle ITA Master's event in California, while Peniston won his way to the ITA National Indoor Championships in November.
    How the Tigers lineup to start the match is anyone's guess. Memphis used 17 different doubles combinations during the fall, as the team split up and played at various tournaments, and will need to get out to a quick start in the fight for the doubles point on their home courts in doubles play this weekend.

About Michigan State (2-0):
    Michigan State picked up a pair of wins Saturday to start their 2017 season 2-0, downing Wright State, 7-0, then taking out Xavier, 5-2 later that night.
    The Spartans were 11-18 last season and have seven returnees from last season's roster, including Michael Dube, who posted an 11-10 mark at two singles last year, and Jasper Koenen, who was 8-11 at three singles. Dube and junior Brett Forman split matches at one singles to open the Spartans' season, looking to replace Mac Roy's spot atop the singles lineup. Forman, a junior who missed last season with injury, played one singles in the other match on Saturday opposite Dube and was 20-11 in singles play in 2014-15, leading the team in overall wins.
    This is the eighth meeting between Memphis and Michigan State. The Tigers lead the overall series, 7-0, including a 5-2 win at Michigan State in 2015 and a 6-1 win over the Spartans in 2013, MSU's last appearance in the Bluff City.

About LSU (0-0):
    LSU was 15-14 last season and should be prepped for Sunday, having competed in the Rainbow Warrior Invitational in Hawaii against a tough tournament field that included opponents from Ole Miss and Duke last week. Senior Justin Butsch was up 3-2 against #10 ranked Nicolas Alvarez of Duke when Alvarez retired, giving Butsch a second win over a top 15 opponent at the event, as he downed #14 Gustav Hansson of Ole Miss, 6-4, 6-1, on the opening day of the tournament. Sophomore Nikola Samardzic led LSU through the fall slate with a 12-7 overall mark in singles play, while Butsch and Julian Saborio each added seven wins through individual play. Rafael Wagner tacked on nine wins, and carries a three-match winning streak in to Sunday's meeting with Memphis, while Eric Samuelsson, who just joined the LSU roster in January, went 1-2 in his opening collegiate weekend.
    This is the seventh meeting between the two Tiger programs. LSU leads the overall series, 4-2, including a 7-2 win in Baton Rouge in 1982, the last time the two teams played.

Coach Goebel's Comments:
     "Last year a big goal was to make the NCAA tournament, but this year, we hope to show some improvement from last year. I think we're in a very good position to do that. We're excited to see what happens this season. We had a really good fall season with a lot of really, really solid fall results. The guys went home over the break and put in a lot of hard work and came back in really good shape, so I very good where we are.
     It's a good mix we have this year, we don't have any seniors, but we have some players who have some experience and with our new guys, they provide a lot of energy and excitement, so hopefully putting those two things together will help us improve as well.
     Every player and every coach likes being in-season rather than off-season. This off-season has been long; we're definitely ready to go. We're tired of practicing and playing against each other. We're looking forward to seeing where we stack up against the rest of our schedule.
    We're bringing in Michigan State and LSU, two programs with really good history behind them and we're really excited. It's tough to start your first match against a team like Michigan State that's so well-coached and so solid, so we'll see. We've done a lot of the practice we need to do to get ready, but then, win or lose that one, LSU, a tough SEC opponent just two days later will be a real test."