Friday, January 20
Fayetteville, AR
6 PM
SMU
at
Arkansas
SMU Set To Play Friday At No. 19 Arkansas For First Road Test Of The Season
Jan 18 | Men's Tennis
| SMU at No. 19 Arkansas | |
| Date & Start Time | Friday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. |
| Location | Dills Indoor Tennis Center - Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Notes | Match Notes (.pdf) |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMU Men's Tennis | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUTennisM | |
Jan. 18, 2017
SMU visits No. 19 Arkansas for the first road match of the season Friday at 6 p.m. The Mustangs return to the court after splitting last weekend's matches, beating Abilene Christian, 7-0, and dropping to No. 4 Texas in a hard fought battle, 4-1. The trip to Fayetteville marks the first of five matches on the road for the Mustangs.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks returned eight players from last year's team that finished 20-9 and a program-best 7-5 in Southeastern Conference play. They also earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Round of 32. Senior Mike Redlicki, the No. 3 singles player in the nation, begins the spring as the highest-ranked player in the Southeastern Conference. Fellow senior Jose Salazar joins Redlicki in the top 20, as No. 19 in the singles rankings. Arkansas hosted Tulsa to open the spring season Jan. 14, beating the Golden Hurricane 4-3.
Redlicki opened the season 1-0, defeating Tulsa's Or Ram-Harel, the No. 46 singles player in the nation, in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. Salazar won in similar fashion, beating Tulsa's Majed Kilani 6-2, 6-0 to start the season 1-0. Redlicki and Salazar also competed in doubles completion, topping Tulsa's duo 6-2.
"Arkansas is a very good team," head coach Carl Neufeld said. "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."
SERIES INFO
SMU and Arkansas' will meet for the 10 th time this Friday. The Mustangs have a chance to tie the all-time record as they trail 4-5 in overall victories. SMU and Arkansas met last season on Feb. 14 where the Mustangs just barely dropped a 4-3 decision in Dallas at the SMU Tennis Complex. The last time SMU beat the Razorbacks was May 13, 2001 in Dallas with a 4-3 final.
SMU vs. Arkansas (4-5)
Home: 1-2, Away: 2-2, Neutral: 1-1
3/16/85Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â AÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8-1
1/23/87Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 9-0
4/4/87Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â AÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 9-0
4/15/88Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5-3
4/22/88Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5-1
4/3/94Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4-3
5/13/01Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4-3
1/30/11Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â AÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5-2
2/21/15Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â AÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4-2
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2015-16 SEASON RECAP
The SMU men's tennis team reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships and finished the season ranked No. 22 in the nation. It capped a historic season for the Mustangs, who posted a 22-9 record, including a 3-1 mark in American Athletic Conference play.
It was the 23rd NCAA Championship appearance for SMU and the 12th Round of 16 run. To reach the final 16, SMU earned wins over then-No. 39 Washington and then-No. 8 Texas Tech in the first and second rounds, respectively.
The Mustangs earned nine wins against ranked teams in the 2015-16 season, including against then-No. 5 Oklahoma State, then-No. 17 USF and then-No. 20 Tulsa. SMU had 13 shutout victories on the year, tying a school-record that was set in 1998-99, when SMU finished with a 28-5 record and also reached the Round of 16.
Individually, the Mustangs had standout performers in both singles and doubles play last year. In singles action, Hunter Johnson was ranked as high as No. 31 and received an AAC Player of the Week honor for the week of March 29, 2016, joining teammate Samm Butler, who also earned the accolade for the week of March 15, 2016.
In doubles play, the duo of Hunter and Yates Johnson won 27 matches, placing the pair second in school history for most doubles wins as a duo in a season. The Johnson twins earned All-Conference honors for doubles, while Hunter received All-Conference honors for singles as well. The Johnson twins were ranked the last nine weeks of the season and ended as the No. 31 tandem in the nation.
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SCOUTING THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The American Athletic Conference boasts one team ranked in the top 25 in the nation, with two AAC teams, including SMU, receiving votes in the ITA national poll.
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AAC Teams Ranked In The ITA Top 25
20          Mississippi State                             20
21          University of Michigan                 21
22          Baylor University                            22
23          Columbia University                     24
24Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of South Florida*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 25
25          Duke University                                              NR
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Others Receiving Votes: University of Mississippi, Rice, SMU*, University of South Carolina, Texas Tech, Tulane*
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*denotes American Athletic Conference team
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TAKING ON RANKED TEAMS
For the fourth straight year in a row the Mustangs are scheduled to play at least six ITA Top-25 ranked teams, with the possibility to face 10 Top-25 ranked opponents. SMU welcomes five Top-25 ranked teams to the SMU Tennis Complex this season (No. 4 Texas, T-No. 7 TCU, No. 23 Columbia, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 24 USF).
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ALL-AMERICANS UNDER NEUFELD
During Carl Neufeld's tenure as head coach at SMU, Mustang players have earned 12 All-America honors.
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All-Americans at SMU under Carl Neufeld
Singles
Johan Brunstrom (2004)
Genius Chidzikwe (2001)
Toby Hansson (2000)
Ignacio Hirigoyen (1999)
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Doubles
Eric Cohn (2002)
Johan Brunstrom (2001, 02)
Jon Wallmark (2000, 01)
Toby Hansson (2000)
Dustin Mauck (1999)
Keith Pollak (1999)
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CARL NEUFELD— WINNINGEST ACTIVE SMU HEAD COACH
Head coach Carl Neufeld ranks second among all-time wins at SMU with 399, and is the winningest active head coach on the SMU campus.
SMU Coaching All-Time Wins
               Coach                                                   Sport                                    SMU                     Career
- Rhonda Rompola (1992-2016)    Women's Basketball      439                        439
- Carl Neufeld (1994 - present)     Men's Tennis                    399                        580
- Schellas Hyndman (1984-2007)  Men's Soccer                    368                        466
- Lisa Seifert (1996 - present)        Volleyball                           364                        383
- Doc Hayes (1947-1967)                 Men's Basketball            299                        299
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Players Mentioned
Sunday, October 18
Saturday, October 17
Saturday, October 17
Thursday, October 15
