SMU Set to Host American Athletic Conference Championship

No. 9 SMU (9-17, 0-5 American) vs. No. 8 Temple (12-9, 1-2 American)
Date & Start Time	Thursday, April 19, at 9 a.m.
Championship Central	AAC Championship Central
Bracket	AAC Championship Men's Bracket
Location	SMU Tennis Complex & Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring	Live Scoring
Match Notes	Match Notes
Facebook	/SMUMustangs \| /SMUTennisM
Twitter	@SMUMustangs \| @SMUTennisM

DALLAS (SMU) - The Mustangs will enter the American Athletic Conference Championship as the No. 9 seed and face No. 8 seed Temple (12-9, 1-2 American) on Thursday, April 19, at 9 a.m. The matchup will be played at the Crum Tennis Courts on campus, one of the two SMU sites utilized for the championship.

SMU (9-17, 0-5 American) earned its ninth win in the final match of the regular season, a 5-2 defeat of Rice in Houston, on Sunday, April 15. Freshmen Tomas Vaise and Jan-Simon Vrbsky lead the team with 10 wins each in singles and combine for an 11-9 win in doubles play. The team's lone senior, Charles Nettlefold, enters the tournament with a four-match win streak intact after earning wins in singles and doubles against Tulsa on Senior Day.

The Mustangs look for their first AAC title and first conference title since winning the WAC in 2002. SMU advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament in 2016, but was upset by Memphis in last season's quarterfinals. This season, the Mustangs will play in a first round contest while the No. 1-6 seeded teams receive a first round bye.

PLAYING HOST
SMU will host the conference championship for the first time in program history. The tournament will run simultaneously with the women's championship at the SMU Tennis Complex and the Crum Tennis Courts. Matches will be played on the six outdoor courts at both locations with indoor courts used only in case of weather.

Parking for fans and visitors is available at the Binkley Parking Center and the Meadows Parking Center on campus and the Mockingbird Station garage. Live scoring will be available for each match through the American Athletic Conference Championship Central site. The championship match on April 22 will be streamed on American Digital Network.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple comes to Dallas with a 12-9 record and just won win in conference play. The Owls defeated the tournament's No. 10 seed, Connecticut in a 4-1 decision last month. Temple has dropped conference matches to No. 1 Memphis and No. 7 ECU. In the final regular season match, Temple defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 7-0.

SERIES INFO
SMU has faced Temple just once in program history. The Mustangs defeated the Owls, 7-0, at home in March 2016.

MUSTANGS IN THE AAC TOURNAMENT
2017 Championship (Lake Nona, Fla.)
Memphis             L, 4-2                    Quarterfinals

2016 Championship (Memphis, Tenn.)
UCF W, 4-0                    Quarterfinals
Tulsa L, 4-1                     Semifinals

2015 Championship (Tulsa, Okla.)
Memphis             L, 4-2                     Quarterfinals

2014 Championship (Memphis, Tenn.)
UCF                    W, 4-1                   Quarterfinals
Memphis             L, 0-4 Semifinals

NEUFELD EARNS 600^TH CAREER WIN
Head Coach Carl Neufeld added a milestone win to his resume on April 8, earning his 600^th career win as a head coach when the Mustangs took down UT Arlington, 4-3. Neufeld, in his 25^th season as SMU's head coach, holds 420 wins on the Hilltop. He is the winningest active head coach at the university and second all-time to women's basketball head coach Rhonda Rompola (1996-2016) who holds 439 victories. Prior to SMU, Neufeld was an assistant coach at Southern California and a head coach at Northern Illinois. Neufeld has a 420-245 (.632) record at SMU and a 601-349 (.633) record overall.

TAKING ON RANKED OPPONENTS
The Mustangs have not shied away from tough competition in dual match season, having faced seven Oracle/ITA nationally-ranked teams. 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. The Mustangs then faced No. 26 Arizona State at the BNP Paribas Collegiate Tennis Challenge. Finally, No. 31 Tulane visited the SMU Tennis Complex for an American Conference matchup. 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 high as No. 23.

LAST TIME OUT
After earning the doubles point for the 12^th time this season, the Mustangs wrapped up the regular season with a 5-2 win at Rice on Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. SMU enters the American Athletic Conference Championship next week with a 9-17 record.

Tomas Vaise and Jan-Simon Vrbsky outlasted the Owls at No. 1 doubles, earning their 11^th win as a pair with a 6-4 decision. Charles Nettlefold and Roberto Rosales won their second consecutive match at No. 2, 6-3.

SMU surrendered just two points in singles and earned wins from the bottom three positions in the lineup. Nettlefold won his fourth straight match, a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 4, while Eladio Fabregas sailed to a straight set victory (6-3, 6-4) at No. 6.

Vaise clinched the match at No. 1 after falling in his first set to Eric Rutledge. He took the final two sets to earn a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win, his 11^th of the spring, and clinch the match for the Mustangs.

Rosales played through his match at No. 5, fighting through two set tiebreaks to muscle out a straight set win. He earned his ninth victory of the season with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8) win..

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.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
First Round | Thursday, April 19
Match 1: No. 9 SMU (9-17) vs. No. 8 Temple (12-9)            9 a.m.
Match 2: No. 10 UConn (4-15) vs. No. 7 ECU (21-4)            9 a.m.

Quarterfinals | Friday, April 20
Match 3: SMU/Temple winner vs. No. 1 Memphis (17-4) 9 a.m.
Match 4: No. 5 USF (8-15) vs. No. 4 Wichita State (14-9) 9 a.m.
Match 5: UConn/USF winner vs. No. 2 Tulane (15-6)      Noon
Match 6: No. 6 Tulsa (11-16) vs. No. 3 UCF (10-9)            Noon

Semifinals | Saturday, April 21
Match 7: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner                     Noon
Match 8: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner                     Noon

Final | Sunday, April 22 | American Digital Network
Match 9: Semifinal winners                                                Noon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eladio Fabregas

Charles Nettlefold

Roberto Rosales

Tomas Vaise

Jan-Simon Vrbsky

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