Men’s Tennis Facing Oregon in NCAA Opener Friday

Friday, May 12

College Station, Texas

11:00 am

University of Memphis

#24 University of Oregon

Photo by: UofM Athletic Media Relations

May 11, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Memphis playing at 11 a.m. in College Station.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team (15-8) is in College Station, Texas and will open their 2017 NCAA tournament run against No. 21 ranked Oregon (18-6) at 11 a.m. Friday at Texas A&M. Live video will be available at http://www.12thman.com/sports/2017/2/16/tennis-live-video.aspx.

How to Follow the Match
In College Station:
Played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
Tickets will be available at the gate. Cost is $10 for single day reserved or $7 for single day general admission. An $18 all-session reserved ticket or a $10 all-session general admission ticket is also available for purchase. Students will receive $4 daily admission.

Online:
Live video will be available at www.12thMan.com/live tennis and live scoring will be available at sidearmstats.com/tamu/mten/

ABOUT
This is Memphis' fifth NCAA appearance in six seasons and will be the second consecutive appearance for a roster that does not have a senior and includes four juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. Last year, that core of players made their first-ever NCAA appearance with the guidance of then-senior Louis Asser. Memphis fell 4-1 to Mississippi State and Andrew Watson grabbed Memphis' lone point with a 6-1, 6-3 win over the #34 ranked player in the country, Mate Cutura.

The Tigers' lineup is a bit different since that last trip. Kai Lemke is breaking in his third different doubles partner at one doubles, teaming with Andrew Watson after playing at one last season with Asser. Lemke and Watson had worked their way in to the national rankings in mid-April with a win over the then-number 35 one doubles team from USF.

Unfortunately for the Tigers' top doubles tandem, they got upended 6-4 by SMU in the opening round of the conference tournament and it dropped them back out of the national rankings.

At two doubles, the team of Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch lead the team with a 13-6 overall mark. The duo is 6-4 in its last 10 outings and has provided some points from the middle of the lineup for Memphis. Freshmen Jan Pallares and Matt Story could be shaping up to be another strong Memphis tandem. In their first collegiate spring, the pair is 11-6 at three doubles.

In singles play, the Memphis lineup has been pretty established all spring. Ryan Peniston is 8-8 at one singles and has faced 10 ranked opponents with three wins, including a win over the American Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year, #18 ranked Constantin Schmitz of Tulane.

Watson has played one doubles and two singles for a majority of the spring, carrying a 9-3 record at two singles and a 2-0 mark when he's slid up to one. Lemke is 9-9 at three singles for Memphis and clinched a big win over SMU at the end of regular season play.

The bottom of the lineup features two players who also played in the NCAAs last year as freshmen – Chris Patzanovsky and Felix Rauch. Patzanovsky is 15-14 on the year and is 6-8 at four singles, while Rauch is 8-6 at six singles and 15-12 on the season.

Current freshman Jan Pallares has slid in to the Memphis lineup at five and is capping a solid freshman season with a 9-4 mark at five singles and a 20-10 singles mark for the year, leading the team. Watson is the next Tiger trying to get to the 20-win mark, with a 19-8 overall record.

ABOUT OREGON
This is the first time in school history that the Ducks are making back-to-back NCAA trips, but the Pac 12 team will have some confidence against an American Athletic Conference team, having beaten then-No. 23 ranked Tulsa last season.

Sophomore Thomas Laurent, ranked 27 in the country, has led the Ducks at one singles and has a spectacular 29-5 overall record, including a 19-3 mark at one singles. Laurent's season will continue on even after his team is done as the sophomore has been selected for the NCAA Singles Championship.

At two singles, Simon Stevens is carrying an 8-8 overall mark, while Akihiro Tanaka is 7-2 at three and 6-2 at four. Jayson Amos has split time at three and four as well, sporting a 6-4 mark at three and a 9-3 record at four. Amos is a solid points contributor for the Ducks. In fact, he is the school's all-time singles leader with 93 career wins.

Cormac Clissold has seen a bulk of the time at five singles, where he is 11-7, while Ethan Young-Smith and Ty Gentry have split time at six. Young-Smith is 5-2 on the year, while Ty Gentry is 6-4.

The Ducks have played a tough schedule in preparation for the Friday morning match-up. OU is 4-5 against ranked opponents and has already faced one American Athletic Conference team, defeating Tulane, 4-2, at the San Diego tournament back in March. The two teams also have a common opponent in Stanford. Memphis was edged by Stanford, 4-3, back at the beginning of the season at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, while the Cardinal eliminated the Ducks from the Pac 12 tournament, 4-2.

Coach Paul Goebel's Thoughts:
"Even on arrival, you can feel all the positive energy on our team. Everyone is just full of laughs and smiles and are super excited to play here at a great facility and play a great opponent in Oregon.

You work all year for this and when you arrive, it's kind of a different energy that we have. We just finished our first practice. It's good to get used to the court surface and the surroundings and getting used to the temperature, which I think we're really fortunate, because it's pretty similar to what it was in Memphis. The guys seem to really like the surface and the setup of the courts. We had some great energy in practice and we should be prepared to go.

Oregon is a very battle-tested team, they played a tough Pac 12 schedule. They are well-coached and have had some big success in doubles this year. There are no weaknesses in their singles lineup either, so we know it's going to be tough, I think every court is going to be a great matchup and that's what you expect. When you get in the NCAA tournament, there are no easy matches and it should be a great college tennis match. "

Junior Ryan Peniston's Thoughts:
"We're definitely really excited. We've had a really good week of practice. This part of the season is the most fun part of the season. We've been working toward this since the past NCAA tournament, so we've been pretty excited the past few weeks.

We've never been here before, the courts are different and the atmosphere is different. We heard there is going to be quite a few people watching, so it's gonna be fun. It's going to be good."