DALLAS (SMU) - The Mustangs will travel to Indian Wells, California, to compete at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge by Oracle for the second-straight year Friday, March 16, through Sunday, March 18.
SMU will play at least two matches at the Collegiate Tennis Challenge, beginning with No. 26 Arizona State, the tournament's top-seeded team, Friday at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT.
The winner of the match advances to play the winner of Baylor vs. Tulsa on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT. The consolation match is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday, March 18.
The Mustangs are joined by seven prominent programs in the men's side of the tournament: Tulsa, BYU, No. 26 Arizona State, No. 39 California, Purdue, USF and No. 29 Baylor.
Live scores for the tournament can be found on
Tennis Ticker.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
The Sun Devils are continuing an impressive 8-5 campaign that has placed them at No. 26 in the Oracle/ITA Rankings. ASU has suffered losses only at the hands of ranked opponents, falling most recently in a tight 4-2 match vs. No. 4 Ohio State. The Sun Devils have three ranked singles players: No. 51 Benjamin Hannestad, No. 61 Michael Geerts and No. 116 Makey Rakotomalala.
SERIES INFO
The Mustangs hold a 0-2 series record against the Sun Devils dating back to the first meeting in 1994. The teams have not matched up since 1996, when SMU was met with a 6-1 loss on the road. SMU and ASU have never met on a neutral site.
SMU vs. Arizona State (0-2)
Home: 0-0, Away: 0-2, Neutral: 0-0
2/27/94..............A.................L .................... 7-0
2/24/96..............A.................L .................... 6-1
NEUFELD – ROAD TO 600 WINS
Head Coach
Carl Neufeld is already the winningest active head coach as SMU, but he is one win away from another impressive milestone. Neufeld sits at 599 career wins, with 418 at SMU. The veteran coach is in his 25
th season with SMU and holds a .638 winning percentage on the Hilltop. Neufeld earned his 400th win at SMU when the Mustangs defeated then-No. 19 Arkansas, 4-3, in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Jan. 20, 2017.
TAKING ON RANKED OPPONENTS
The Mustangs have not shied away from tough competition in dual match season, having faced five Oracle/ITA nationally-ranked teams in 15 matches. SMU first traveled to No. 8 Texas, followed by a home match against No. 18 TCU, a road match at No. 10 Oklahoma State, and home matches vs. No. 41 Memphis and No. 9 Columbia. Since taking on Harvard and Arkansas, both teams have appeared on the national rankings as well, with Arkansas listed at No. 50 on Feb. 20 and Harvard reaching as low as No. 23. SMU will face at least one ranked team, No. 26 Arizona State, at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Challenge, followed by a home match against No. 34 Tulane on March 27.
LAST TIME OUT
Freshman
Tomas Vaise took his match against his No. 38-ranked opponent to a third set, but SMU ultimately fell, 4-0, to No. 9 Columbia (9-2) Wednesday at the SMU Tennis Complex.
The Mustangs drop to 7-9 for the season but still hold a 10-7 all-time record against the Lions.
Led by No. 8 doubles pair Victor Pham and Jackie Tang, Columbia jumped to an early lead in doubles play. The duo defeated
Jan-Simon Vrbsky and
Tomas Vaise, 6-3, at the top spot. The Lions took a 1-0 lead with Adam Ambrozy/Michal Rolski's 6-1 win against
Charles Nettlefold/
Roberto Rosales.
Vaise impressed in singles, picking up a first set victory over No. 38 Jackie Tang. The No. 2 singles match extended to a third set, but was left unfinished as the Lions clinched the match on other courts.
No. 9 Victor Pham defeated Vrbsky, 6-1, 6-2, on court one, followed by
Michael Smith's 6-3, 6-0 loss on court four. The final point was delivered by Austen Huang's win over Rosales on court five. It was just the fifth loss of the season for both Vrbsky and Rosales.
LOOKING AHEAD
SMU returns to Dallas for a two-match homestand beginning with UTSA on Saturday, March 24, at 4:30 p.m. followed by No. 34 Tulane on Tuesday, March 27, at 5 p.m.
FOLLOW THE MUSTANGS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following SMU Men's Tennis on Twitter at @SMUTennisM, Instagram at @SMUTennisM and on Facebook at Facebook.com/MTennis. Follow SMU Athletics on Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.
