Jan. 15, 2017

DALLAS (SMU)— The SMU men's tennis team fought hard but eventually fell to No. 4 Texas Sunday afternoon at the SMU Tennis Complex. The Mustangs are now 1-1, while the Longhorns improve to 2-0.

The Mustangs went up on the Longhorns, 1-0, winning the doubles portion of the match in several close match ups. Texas jumped out early as they claimed the first doubles match, but the Mustangs responded, winning the remaining two courts and taking the first point of the match.

Ronald Slobodchikov and Samm Butler took Texas' Sigsgaard and Ito to a tie-breaker and prevailed to win the match 7-5. Both teams held one doubles victory and the point came down to court three, where Hunter Johnson and Arkadijs Slobodkins also took Texas' Scott and Zlobinsky to extra points. The Mustangs capitalized on several Texas errors to win the match 7-6.

In singles play, Slobodchikov took Texas' Sigsgaard, the No. 6 ranked singles player in the nation, to three sets after dropping the first 6-0. Slobodchikov bounced back to claim the second set 6-3 but Sigsgaard eventually took the third set in similar fashion winning 6-3.

SMU's Markus Kerner played Texas' Scott, the No. 47 ranked singles player in the nation, tight in the second set after dropping the first set, 6-3. However, Scott came out on top taking the second set, 6-5.

"It was a very hard fought match," head coach Carl Neufeld said. "I was really proud of the fact that we fought so hard. I don't think we played our best and that's something that makes me feel somewhat good about it. There were tough matches all the way down. There were two matches at the end I thought we were going to win, but we didn't. We all just have to get a little bit better. We will be competing in and enjoying some very exciting matches this year."

Despite the loss, Neufeld took away positive points.

"It gives us a little confidence to realize we can compete against these teams and beat these teams. This is an important step for us. Arkansas is a very good team. There is little difference between No. 10 and No. 20 or No. 19 and No. 4. We're excited to go play Arkansas because we know they have the No. 3 ranked singles player in the country and one of the top doubles teams in the country. We had a very tough match against them last year so we're excited to measure ourselves against them this year."

The Mustangs head to Fayetteville to take on No. 19 Arkansas Friday Jan. 20.

Match Results
Doubles Competition (In order of finish)

1. Goldhoff / Telles  (Texas) def. Y. Johnson / Kerner (SMU) 6-0
2. Slobodchikov / Butler (SMU) def. Sigsgaard / Ito (Texas) 7-5
3. H. Johnson / Slobodkins (SMU) def. Scott / Zlobinsky (Texas) 7-6

Singles Competition (In order of finish)

1. Ito (Texas) def. H. Johnson (SMU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Scott (Texas) def. Kerner (SMU) 6-3, 6-5
3. Sigsgaard (Texas) def. Slobodchikov (SMU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
4. Zlobinsky (Texas) def. Y. Johnson (SMU) 7-6, 6-2
5. Slobodkins (SMU) vs. Banzer (Texas) unfinished
6. Butler (SMU) vs. Goldhoff (Texas) unfinished