University of Memphis Athletics
Sunday, January 28
Athens, Ga.
8 a.m.
University of Memphis
4
vs
3
Arkansas
Tigers defeat Arkansas to open ITA Kickoff Weekend
Jan 28, 2018 | Men's Tennis
Memphis earns spot in Monday's final
Box Score
ATHENS, Ga. – Junior Felix Rauch turned in one of his best performances of his collegiate career as the Memphis men's tennis team defeated Arkansas 4-3 Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers and Razorbacks battled back and forth throughout the day, and with all eyes on him, Rauch provided the match-clinching win to send the Tigers to the Athens regional championship final of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
"It was a great college tennis match. We knew it would be coming in," head coach Paul Goebel said. "Arkansas is very well coached and very experienced. They have a similar ranking to us, so we knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle."
The Tigers dropped a tough doubles point to open the day. Memphis' No. 58-ranked pair of Rauch and Jan Pallares took the first doubles match 6-4 before Arkansas rallied, winning courts 1 and 2 with lengthy tiebreaks to take a 1-0 lead.
Memphis answered in singles play when senior Ryan Peniston took court 2 by a score of 6-1, 6-2 and sophomore Pallares claimed the No. 4 spot by a final of 6-4, 6-3 to give the Tigers a brief 2-1 match advantage.
Arkansas responded on court 1 with a win before Tiger senior Kai Lemke added a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory on court 3 to reclaim the lead. The Razorbacks had one more rally, however, taking court 5 to knot the match 3-3, when Rauch worked his magic.
Beginning his match with nearly all other courts complete, Rauch rallied to force a tiebreak and battled through to win the opening frame. The Germany native added pressure early in the second set and cruised to a 7-6(9-7), 6-3 victory.
"I was really, really happy for Felix. It's not easy when you're the last match on for pretty much your whole match," Goebel said of the match-clinching win. "Just with the way the courts are set up – when he came on to play with that kind of pressure with everybody watching for that long of a time – he did a great job of handling that. He played one of his best matches since he has been at Memphis."
The Tigers return to the court Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CT) to face host No. 4 Georgia in the championship match.
RESULTS
Memphis 4, Arkansas 3
Singles
1. #113 Salazar (ARK) def. Watson (MEM) 6-4, 6-4
2. Peniston (MEM) def. Sanjurjo (ARK) 6-1, 6-2
3. Lemke (MEM) def. Mesquida (ARK) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Pallares (MEM) def. Howard-Tripp (ARK) 6-4, 6-3
5. Reco (ARK) def. Patzanovsky (MEM) 6-4, 6-3
6. Rauch (MEM) def. Alonso (ARK) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
Doubles
1. Sanjurjo/Mesquida (ARK) def. Lemke/Story (MEM) 7-6 (11-9)
2. Salazar/Howard (ARK) def. Watson/Peniston (MEM) 7-6 (9-7)
3. #58 Pallares/Rauch (MEM) def. Terrell/Reco (ARK) 6-4
ATHENS, Ga. – Junior Felix Rauch turned in one of his best performances of his collegiate career as the Memphis men's tennis team defeated Arkansas 4-3 Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers and Razorbacks battled back and forth throughout the day, and with all eyes on him, Rauch provided the match-clinching win to send the Tigers to the Athens regional championship final of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
"It was a great college tennis match. We knew it would be coming in," head coach Paul Goebel said. "Arkansas is very well coached and very experienced. They have a similar ranking to us, so we knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle."
The Tigers dropped a tough doubles point to open the day. Memphis' No. 58-ranked pair of Rauch and Jan Pallares took the first doubles match 6-4 before Arkansas rallied, winning courts 1 and 2 with lengthy tiebreaks to take a 1-0 lead.
Memphis answered in singles play when senior Ryan Peniston took court 2 by a score of 6-1, 6-2 and sophomore Pallares claimed the No. 4 spot by a final of 6-4, 6-3 to give the Tigers a brief 2-1 match advantage.
Arkansas responded on court 1 with a win before Tiger senior Kai Lemke added a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory on court 3 to reclaim the lead. The Razorbacks had one more rally, however, taking court 5 to knot the match 3-3, when Rauch worked his magic.
Beginning his match with nearly all other courts complete, Rauch rallied to force a tiebreak and battled through to win the opening frame. The Germany native added pressure early in the second set and cruised to a 7-6(9-7), 6-3 victory.
"I was really, really happy for Felix. It's not easy when you're the last match on for pretty much your whole match," Goebel said of the match-clinching win. "Just with the way the courts are set up – when he came on to play with that kind of pressure with everybody watching for that long of a time – he did a great job of handling that. He played one of his best matches since he has been at Memphis."
The Tigers return to the court Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CT) to face host No. 4 Georgia in the championship match.
RESULTS
Memphis 4, Arkansas 3
Singles
1. #113 Salazar (ARK) def. Watson (MEM) 6-4, 6-4
2. Peniston (MEM) def. Sanjurjo (ARK) 6-1, 6-2
3. Lemke (MEM) def. Mesquida (ARK) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Pallares (MEM) def. Howard-Tripp (ARK) 6-4, 6-3
5. Reco (ARK) def. Patzanovsky (MEM) 6-4, 6-3
6. Rauch (MEM) def. Alonso (ARK) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
Doubles
1. Sanjurjo/Mesquida (ARK) def. Lemke/Story (MEM) 7-6 (11-9)
2. Salazar/Howard (ARK) def. Watson/Peniston (MEM) 7-6 (9-7)
3. #58 Pallares/Rauch (MEM) def. Terrell/Reco (ARK) 6-4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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