No. 20 SMU (22-6) vs No. 33 LSU (15-11)
Austin, Texas
May 6, 2022
 
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AUSTIN, Texas – The 20^th ranked Mustangs will begin their 2022 NCAA tournament journey against No. 33 LSU on Friday at 10:00 a.m. CT. The first-round match will be played in Austin, as No. 12 Texas hosts the regional at their Texas Tennis Center. SMU is currently on an 11-match winning streak. They enter the tournament with a 4-2 neutral record and 7-0 road record. The Mustangs have accumulated ten ranked wins throughout the season, defeating the likes of No. 18 Texas A&M, current No. 19 San Diego, and No. 36 Memphis twice.
 
SMU has had some time to rest since winning three 4-2 matches in three days to take its first AAC championship title on April 24^th. The Mustangs defeated No. 36 Memphis in the championship. Liam Krall was named Most Outstanding Player by the AAC after clinching the win for his team.
 
Scouting LSU
The Tigers enter the NCAA tournament after securing an at-large bid with a record of 15-11. They are 3-5 on the road and 2-2 at neutral sites. They won their first SEC tournament match 4-1 over Mississippi State before losing to the eventual champion Florida Gators 1-4 in the quarterfinals. LSU had the same result as SMU against four of their five same opponents. This includes wins over Purdue, Tulane, and Tulsa, and a loss to Texas Tech. The Mustangs beat Texas A&M 4-3, while LSU lost 0-7. The Tigers' best win of the season came in March over No. 20 Ole Miss, 5-2.
 
Playing in the middle to back half of LSU's lineup are Gabriel Diaz Freire and Boris Kozlov. Their dual records of 18-6 and 15-8, respectively, are among the best on the team. Kent Hunter has also been a dominant force on lines two and three, going 15-4 in dual play so far this season. Ronald Hohmann is the Tigers' only ranked player, coming in at No. 28. He is 8-9 at the top line. Their second line has the best doubles record of 15-10. Hunter and Diaz typically play in this position.
 
The Mustangs are 5-6 against LSU all-time. The Tigers won their last matchup 6-1 in February of 2019.
 
Hot Mustangs
Julian Steinhausen has won his last eight singles matches, the last seven being in straight sets.
 
Liam Krall has won seven straight singles matches and nine of his last 10. The sophomore also split sets in an unfinished match with current No. 14 ranked singles player Luc Fomba of current No. 1 TCU on March 21^st.
 
Steinhausen and Huntley Allen are 14-3 in doubles dual play this season, dominating the third line for SMU.
 
NCAA Championships History
SMU will be making its 24^th NCAA tournament appearance. Their last showing was in 2017 when they lost in the first round to Mississippi State 0-4. The Mustangs last win was in the 2016 round of 32 against Texas Tech, 4-2. They also beat Washington 5-0 in the first round before losing to Florida in the Sweet 16, 0-4. SMU's best showing was in 1983 when they made it to the title match before losing to Stanford.
 
Regional Schedule ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
American Champions
On April 24^th, the Mustangs won their first AAC championship since the conference formed ahead of the 2013-14 season. After dropping the doubles point, SMU's entirely American squad came back to defeat the 36^th ranked Memphis Tigers 4-2. Sophomore Liam Krall clinched the match, and was named Most Outstanding Player for the AAC Championships.
 
SMU has now won 10 conference championships in program history, seven in the SWC ('78, '79, '82, '83, '85, '86, '87), two during its time in the WAC (1998, 2002), and one in the AAC (2022). The Mustangs have won their last three conference titles in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
 
UNDEFEATED
SMU concluded its regular season with undefeated conference and road records, each at 7-0. The achievement marked the Mustangs' first undefeated road record since 1999 and first undefeated conference record since 2008.
 
Sweep 'Stangs & Ranked Record
SMU has swept eight opponents so far this season. No. 37 Memphis, No. 60 UTSA, and Temple are included on this list. The Mustangs also hold an 10-3 record versus ranked opponents. These 10 ranked wins are the most in a single season for the program since the 2000-01.
 
Making National Noise
The Mustangs pulled off a dramatic 4-3 road win over No. 18 Texas A&M on February 27^th. This was SMU's highest ranked win since defeating No. 8 Texas Tech in the second round of the 2016 NCAA tournament and third top 20 win since head coach Grant Chen took over the program in 2018. Former Aggie, Pranav Kumar clinched the win for SMU.
 
The Mustangs also defeated No. 35 San Diego 4-3 on the road on March 5^th. San Diego native Ivan Thamma, a graduate transfer from UC Davis, clinched the match for SMU. He erased a 6-7, 1-4 deficit, winning the final two sets 6-4, 6-4. Thamma and doubles partner Adam Neff also knocked off San Diego's No. 43 ranked doubles team of Holmgren and Osorio 6-3, handing them their first loss of the year.
 
In a close 4-3 loss to No. 19 Middle Tennessee on March 3^rd, Thamma and Neff defeated the No. 47 ranked doubles team of Francisco Rocha and Oskar Poulsen 6-3. Caleb Chakravarthi also beat No. 101 ranked singles player Chris Edge in straight sets 7-6, 6-1.
 
On March 25^th the Mustangs knocked off No. 57 UCF 4-3 in Orlando, handing them their first AAC loss since April 2019. For the second time this season, Thamma clinched the match. The grad-senior completed the comeback after being down a set and fighting off two match points in the second.
 
SMU notched its sixth ranked win of the season, defeating No. 37 Memphis 4-0 on April 4^th. It was the Mustangs first win over the Tigers since 2011 and second ever sweep.
 
Ranking the 'Stangs
Since February 23^rd, the Mustangs have jumped 38 spots in the ITA national rankings. They currently stand at No. 20. This is the highest SMU has been ranked since 2002. The highest SMU climbed last year was No. 44.
 
Adam Neff and Pranav Kumar came in at No. 34 in the latest ITA national doubles rankings. They have picked up two signature wins over Memphis' current No. 35 ranked duo. Neff and Ivan Thamma are also ranked No. 68.
 
Mustangs On Tour
Four SMU men's tennis players debuted on the ATP Tour at the Dallas Open in February. Caleb Chakravarthi, Liam Krall, and Adam Neff were all awarded matches in singles, while Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma were given a spot in doubles. The field included three top-30 ranked players in the world including John Isner, Taylor Fritz, and Reilly Opelka. Neff and Thamma came closest to winning their match, as they split sets with Sam Querrey and Jackson Withrow before losing 10-5 on a tiebreak.
 
Chen Hits Milestone Wins Mark
The Mustangs defeated UTSA 4-0 on March 13^th, marking Head Coach Grant Chen's 50^th career win. He previously spent six years at UCLA as Assistant Coach/Associate Head Coach before coming to SMU in 2018.
 
AAC Honors
Graduate senior Pranav Kumar was named AAC Men's Tennis player of the week on March 1^st, after clinching the Mustangs' 4-3 win over his former team, the No. 18 ranked Texas A&M Aggies. This was Kumar's second consecutive match clinching win, having lifted SMU to victory over Nebraska 4-3 on February 20^th.
 
Sophomore Adam Neff also received player of the week honors on April 5^th. Neff played at the number one line in all six of his matches that week, going 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Neff and Pranav Kumar clinched the doubles point against No. 37 Memphis, battling back from down 2-5 to beat the Tigers' No. 18 ranked pairing 7-5. SMU went 3-0 in the matches, defeating Temple 4-0, Wichita State 4-2, and No. 37 Memphis 4-0.
 
Fall Titles
SMU won a number of tournaments this fall. Former AAC Freshman of the Year Liam Krall took the singles title at the Lakes Collegiate Invitational. Senior captain Caleb Chakravarthi won the singles title, as well as the doubles title with Julian Steinhausen at the Islander Invite. Jordi Redelijk won the singles title at the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge, while Kyle Sillman and John Zisette took the doubles trophy.