SMU at No. 23 Florida
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex - Gainesville, Florida
Sunday, Jan. 21 | 11 a.m. (CT)
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SETTING THE SCENE
•    SMU travels Gainesville, Florida, for its match against the Gators on Sunday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
•    SMU opened its season with four consecutive 7-0 wins over Hawaii, Prairie View A&M and UAB.
•    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
•    Florida competes for the first time this spring on Friday in home matches against The Citadel and North Florida.
•    The Gators enter 2024 competition ranked 23 in the ITA's most recent team poll.
•    Florida finished 14-14 in 2023 and ranked 22 in the ITA's final poll in June.
•    The Gators had four players - Aidan Kim (57), Tanapatt Nirudorn (69), Jeremy Jin (75) and Magnus Johnson (86) - ranked in the ITA's final fall singles poll.
•    Florida also had two doubles pairs - Nate Bonetto & Aidan Kim (38) and Bonetto and Jemery Jin (48) in the ITA's final fall doubles poll.
•    Adam Steinberg is in his first season as head coach of the Gators.

HOT START
•    The Mustangs have opened the season with four consecutive 7-0 shutouts over Hawaii, Prairie View A&M and UAB.
•    Only two SMU singles matches have been extended to three sets.
•    The Mustangs' 4-0 record with no opponent points allowed marks the best start to a season under Head Coach Grant Chen.

'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).

SERVIN' SVAJDA
•    Freshman Trevor Svajda joined SMU as the No. 1 tennis recruit in the nation.
•    Svajda has opened his collegiate career undefeated, going 3-0 in singles on the Mustangs' first line.
•    Svajda and Adam Neff are 4-0 in doubles play.

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.
•    Krall earned the AAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and AAC All-Conference Singles honors in 2022 as a junior.
•    Krall was also named the 2021 AAC Freshman of the Year.

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 will travel to the west coast for the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 27-28 at the David X. Marks Tennis Complex. The Mustangs will face No. 7 USC at 4 p.m. (CT) on Saturday.
•    San Diego and Texas Tech will also face off on Saturday. Winners of Saturday's matches will compete on Sunday at 4 p.m., with a  consolation match at 12 p.m. (All Times Central).