Saturday, January 28
College Station, Texas
SMU
vs
Mississippi
No. 23 Mustangs Set To Play Ole Miss At ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan 26 | Men's Tennis
| SMU vs. [RV] Ole Miss | |
| Date & Start Time | Saturday, Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. |
| Location | Mitchell Tennis Center - College Station, Texas |
| Live Stats | 12thMan.com |
| Notes | Match Notes (.pdf) |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMU Men's Tennis | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUTennisM | |
| SMU vs. No. 15 Texas A&M / No. 21 Baylor | |
| Date & Start Time | Sunday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. / 2 p.m. |
| Location | Mitchell Tennis Center - College Station, Texas |
| Live Stats | 12thMan.com |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMU Men's Tennis | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUTennisM | |
Jan. 26, 2017
No. 23 SMU plays in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in College Station, Texas this weekend. The Mustangs face [RV] Ole Miss in the first round at 11 a.m. on Saturday and will play either No. 21 Baylor at 11 a.m. or No. 15 Texas A&M at 2 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The Mustangs return to the court after knocking off then-No. 19 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Jan. 20 with a nail-biting finish as Ronald Slobodchikov defeated the No. 3 singles player in the nation to secure the win for SMU.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
Per this week's ITA rankings, the Rebels are one of seven teams receiving votes in the Oracle/ITA top-25 national rankings. In individual play Ole Miss (1-0) is led by junior All-American Gustav Hansson, the No. 14 ranked singles player in the nation. In the Rebels' 7-0 sweep of Hawaii, Gustav defeated the Hawaiian opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Rebel's freshman Tim Sandkaulen comes in as the the No. 83 singles player in the country and defeated Hawaii in a three-set match.
All three of Ole Miss' doubles teams landed in the latest doubles rankings led by Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton at No. 13. Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic are ranked No. 40, while the first-time duo of Hansson and Sandkaulen are ranked No. 57.
"This weekend will be another great test for us," Neufeld said. "Win or lose [versus Ole Miss] we play either Baylor or Texas A&M and those are perennial top programs in the country. We have a really exciting weekend of challenging tennis and I think the guys are very much looking forward to it."
SERIES INFO
SMU and Ole Miss will meet for only the second time. The Mustangs have a chance to tie the series, 1-1. The first meeting occurred in February 2014 with the Mustangs dropping the match 4-0.
Ole Miss (0-1)
Home: 0-0, Away: 0-0, Neutral: 0-1
2/22/14 N L, 4-0
MUSTANGS BREAK INTO ITA TOP-25
The SMU men's tennis team is ranked No. 23 in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top-25 rankings, released this week (Jan. 25). This is the first week the Mustangs have been ranked in the top-25 after receiving votes the first two weeks of the spring season.
SMU (2-1) swept Abilene Christian 7-0 to open the season Jan. 13 at the SMU Tennis Complex.
The Mustangs have faced two ranked opponents this season already, then-No. 4 Texas and then-No. 19 Arkansas. SMU fell 4-1 in a tight battle against the Longhorns in Dallas before beating the Razorbacks 4-3 in a thriller at Arkansas Friday night.
"I think the team lesson we learned is that we can't take the doubles for granted," head coach Carl Neufeld said. "We still have to continue to work on little small details in doubles to get better and I think this week in practice we've done that. I think the encouragement of beating a team (Arkansas) like that when we weren't really playing well struck home with our guys. I think they started to realize we're able to beat a team like that after losing doubles. It's reason for some of the guys to work a little harder and pick up their game and maybe be the guy that makes a difference in the next match."
SCOUTING THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Mustangs are one of four American Athletic Conference teams in the ITA top-25 rankings or receiving votes this week. USF is ranked No. 24, while Tulane and Tulsa are both receiving votes.
AAC Teams Ranked In The ITA Top 25
20 Mississippi State 20
21 Baylor University 22
22 Columbia University 23
23 SMU* NR
24 USF* 24
25 University of Arkansas 19
Others Receiving Votes: Duke, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Rice, South Carolina, Tulane*, Tulsa*
*denotes American Athletic Conference team
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. 9 Texas, No. 12 TCU, No. 22 Columbia, No. 13 Oklahoma State and No. 24 USF).
ALL-AMERICANS UNDER NEUFELD
During Carl Neufeld's tenure as head coach at SMU, Mustang players have earned 12 All-America honors.
All-Americans at SMU under Carl Neufeld
Singles
Johan Brunstrom (2004)
Genius Chidzikwe (2001)
Toby Hansson (2000)
Ignacio Hirigoyen (1999)
Doubles
Eric Cohn (2002)
Johan Brunstrom (2001, 02)
Jon Wallmark (2000, 01)
Toby Hansson (2000)
Dustin Mauck (1999)
Keith Pollak (1999)
CARL NEUFELD— WINNINGEST ACTIVE SMU HEAD COACH
Head coach Carl Neufeld ranks second among all-time wins at SMU with 400, 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 400 581
- 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
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
Monday, September 21
Sunday, September 20
Sunday, September 20
Sunday, September 20
