SMU vs. UAB
Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex - Dallas, Texas
Sunday, Jan. 11 | 11 a.m. (CT)
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SETTING THE SCENE
•    SMU hosts UAB in its first AAC dual match of the season on Jan. 14 at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
•    SMU opened its season with three consecutive 7-0 wins over Hawaii and Prairie View A&M.
•    SMU looks to earn its third consecutive AAC Tournament Championship victory and NCAA Tournament berth.
•    9 Mustangs - Callaway Clark, Louis Cloud, Liam Krall, Adam Neff, Kyle Sillman, Alex Stafford, Julian Steinhausen, Eli Susser and John Zisette - return from last season's roster.
•    SMU enters its sixth season under the AAC's reigning Coach of the Year, Grant Chen.

KNOW THE FOE
•    UAB opens its 2024 season in its AAC dual match with the Mustangs.
•    UAB finished the 2023 season with a 21-7 record.
•    The Blazers return eight players from a season ago - Parker Bradbury, Iker Dellien, Carlos Gimenez Perez, Kaustubh Holcomb, Noah Milage, Georgios Nouchakis, Chase Parker and Vojtech Podzemny.
•    Ezequiel Gils enters his first year as head coach of the Blazers after spending the previous three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach for Alabama.

HOT START
•    The Mustangs opened the season with three dominant 7-0 wins at Hawaii and in a home doubleheader versus Prairie View A&M.
•    All SMU singles players have won their matches in straight sets.
•    The Mustangs have now begun their last three seasons 3-0.

'NEFF SAID
•    Senior Captain Adam Neff returns to the Hilltop after earning the AAC Player of the Year last season.
•    Neff also earned AAC All-Conference Singles and Doubles honors in 2023. The Bradenton, Florida, native posted an 18-6 overall record playing line one for the Mustangs.
•    Neff ranked as high as 64th in singles last season and appeared in the NCAA Individual Championship - SMU's first selection since 2006.
•    Neff and SMU Alum Pranav Kumar ranked as high as 55th in doubles action in 2023.

FUN IN THE FALL
•    SMU competed in seven fall events, posting 50 total singles wins and 22 doubles wins.
•    The Mustangs capped off the fall season hosting the annual Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex (Nov. 3-5).

ERIC AT-IT-AGAIN
•    Pepperdine transfer Eric Hadigian posted a 9-1 singles record in the fall in two tournaments.
•    Hadigian posted tournament victories in both of his fall competitions for SMU. The California native went 4-0 to win Oklahoma State's Cowboy Classic on Oct. 15. 
• The following weekend, Hadigian won five consecutive matches, rallying to take home the singles consolation final at the ITA Texas Regionals. 

RUN IT BACK
•    SMU will host the 2024 Dallas Open for the third straight year at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
•    Adam Neff will headline the tournament's College Night (Feb. 6) after being awarded a singles main draw wildcard.

THIS YEAR'S GAUNTLET
•    The Mustangs will face off with 18 teams that finished ranked inside the top-75 of the final 2023 ITA standings in June.
•    Of those matchups, SMU will host:
    Ole Miss (Jan. 18)
    Rice (Feb. 11)
    Arkansas (Feb. 28)
    Cal (Mar. 10)
    Wisconsin (Mar. 16)
    Middle Tennessee (Mar. 17)
    Tulane (Mar. 30)
    Memphis (Apr. 7)
    TCU (Apr. 11)
•    SMU will play a total of 16 home matches at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in the spring.
•    The Mustangs will face six American Athletic Conference opponents – UAB, Rice, Tulane, Memphis, Temple and Tulsa – before the AAC Tournament Championships on April 18-21 in Tulsa, Okla.
•    SMU will travel to Los Angeles for both the USTA Southern California Open and ITA Kickoff Weekend with USC, Texas Tech and San Diego during the week of Jan. 21-28.

KRALL-STAR
•    Senior Liam Krall won his first match of the 2024 season with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout against Hawaii's Andy Hernandez.
•    Krall competed in the 2023 World University Games in Chengdu, China. He went on to defeat the tournament's No. 1 overall seed to advance to the quarterfinals.

ITA RANKINGS
•    Five Mustangs were ranked in the ITA's final fall poll.
    Singles:
    88 - Adam Neff
    98 - Jerry Barton
    122 - Eric Hadigian
    Doubles:
    60 - Julian Steinhausen & Huntley Allen

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
•    Three Mustangs - Liam Krall, Callaway Clark and Louis Cloud - traveled to Chenjdu, China, to compete in the 2023 World University Games.
•    Krall defeated the tournament's No. 1 overall seed - Chak Lam Coleman (Hong Kong) - in the second round of singles play.
•    Clark competed in the tournament's mixed doubles field with Elise Wagle from UCLA women's tennis, advancing to the field's quarterfinal round.
•    Cloud competed in the men's singles field, coming away with a win in the first round. 

FRESH FACES
•    SMU added three freshmen - Trevor Svajda, Kale Mize and Hughes Peus - and four transfers - Jerry Barton (Furman), Eric Hadigian (Pepperdine), Maks Silagy (Florida State) and Alex Yang (NYU) to its 2023-24 roster.
•    The Mustangs announced their stellar freshmen signing class in December. Svajda ranked as the number-one recruit in the nation when signing with SMU. Mize comes to SMU also as a five-star recruit, with Peus bringing Team USA experience to the Hilltop.  

CLOUD NINE
•    Junior Louis Cloud clinched the Mustangs' second consecutive AAC title in his singles match with Tulane's Sam Scherer, rallying to win after facing triple match-point.
•    Cloud's success carried over into the summer, where he traveled to Chenjdu, China for the 2023 World University Games. The San Antonio, Texas, native earned a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory in the singles round-of-64.

OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
•    Seniors Adam Neff and Huntley Allen were named team captains in August.
•    Neff enters his second season as an SMU team captain after a successful junior campaign in which he earned AAC Player of the Year honors.

2022-23 RECAP
•The Mustangs won their second straight AAC championship, defeating Tulane 4-3 in the finals. 
•SMU competed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Texas A&M 4-1 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
•The Mustangs earned a 12-3 home record including three ranked wins.
•SMU recorded seven total sweeps and won nine ranked wins. The Mustangs ranked as high as No. 46 in the ITA. 
•Head Coach Grant Chen was named the AAC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. 
•The season included Adam Neff being named the AAC Player of the Year and three AAC All-Conference Selections - Neff (Singles), Neff, Pranav Kumar (Doubles).

UP NEXT
•    SMU hosts Ole Miss at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex for its Match of the Month on Thursday. The dual match is set to begin 6 p.m. (CT).