No. 55 Mustangs Host Wisconsin, No. 34 Middle Tennessee

Saturday, March 16

Dallas, Texas

12 p.m.

SMU

Wisconsin

No. 55 Mustangs Host Wisconsin, No. 34 Middle Tennessee | Sat.-Sun. 12 PM

Mar 14 | Men's Tennis

No. 55 SMU vs. Wisconsin | Saturday, Mar. 16 - 12 p.m.
No. 55 SMU vs. No. 34 Middle Tennessee | Sunday, Mar. 17 - 12 p.m.
Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex - Dallas, Texas
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SETTING THE SCENE
•   No. 55 SMU hosts Wisconsin (Sat.) and No. 34 Middle Tennessee (Sun.) at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. Both matches are set to begin at 12 p.m.
•   SMU is coming off a 7-0 sweep against Butler on Mar. 13.
•   The Mustangs currently hold an 8-1 home record.
•   Adam Neff was named AAC Player of the Week for the second time this season after defeating Cal's No. 67 Ryder Jackson on Mar. 10.

KNOW THE FOES
•   Wisconsin enters Saturday with a 1-11 overall record.
•   Middle Tennessee has a 14-7 overall record and is ranked No. 34 in the ITA's latest team poll.
•   Two Blue Raiders - Leo Raquin (29) and Marcel Kamrowski (114) - were ranked in the ITA's latest singles poll (Mar. 5).

2024 DALLAS OPEN
•   Five Mustangs - Adam Neff, Trevor Svajda, Jerry Barton, Julian Steinhausen and Huntley Allen - competed in the 2024 Dallas Open.
•   Neff headlined the tournament's College Night as a singles main draw wild card against Jordan Thompson.
•   Allen and Steinhausen went three sets in their main draw doubles match against Ben Shelton and Emilio Nava.
•   Both Svajda and Barton competed as wild cards in the singles qualifying rounds.

SPRING RECORDS
•   Singles
   Trevor Svajda (11-3)
   Adam Neff (6-7)
   Jerry Barton (8-5)
   Liam Krall (10-5)
   Maks Silagy (9-5)
   Eric Hadigian (6-3)
   Louis Cloud (7-3)
   Julian Steinhausen (2-0)
   Alex Stafford (2-0)
   Liam Sunkel (1-0)
   Callaway Clark (2-0)
   Kyle Sillman (1-0)
   Alex Yang (1-0)
•   Doubles
   Allen/Steinhausen (4-1)
   Neff/Svajda (4-2)
   Silagy/Barton (2-1)
   Clark/Hadigian (1-1)
   Allen/Silagy (1-0)
   Krall/Clark (1-2)
   Cloud/Sillman (1-0)
   Silagy/Sillman (1-0)
   Allen/Neff (5-2)
   Barton/Svajda (1-1)
   Steinhausen/Silagy (2-3)
   Clark/Sillman (1-0)
   Svajda/Cloud (3-1)

ITA RANKINGS
•   Singles - Trevor Svajda (44).
•   Doubles - Adam Neff/Huntley Allen (44).
•   Team (Mar. 12) - SMU (55).

NEFF SAID
•   Senior Captain Adam Neff has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week twice this season (Feb. 20, Mar. 12).
•   Neff was ranked No. 97 in the Feb. 20 ITA singles poll and No. 44 with Huntley Allen in the current doubles ranking (Mar. 5).
•   Neff headlined the 2024 Dallas Open's College Night in his singles main draw match against Jordan Thompson.
•   Neff earned a ranked win over Cal's No. 67 Ryder Jackson.

SERVIN' SVAJDA
•   Freshman Trevor Svajda joined SMU as the No. 1 tennis recruit in the nation.
•   Svajda has opened his collegiate career with an 11-3 record playing on line one for the Mustangs.
•   Svajda has earned three singles wins over ranked opponents this season (No. 17, No. 35, No. 107).
•   Svajda competed at the USTA's 2024 Southern California Open, where he rallied to defeat Tennys Sandgren (0-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3)).
•   The San Diego native was selected to play against Nicolas Moreno De Alboran as a singles qualifying wild card at the 2024 Dallas Open.

KRALL-STAR
•   Liam Krall is currently 10-5 in his senior season with the Mustangs.
•   Krall defeated Baylor's No. 75 Devin Badenhorst (6-4, 5-7, 6-4).
•   Krall has clinched two wins for SMU this season with singles victories at No. 57 Cornell and against Cal.
•   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.

ERIC HAD-A-WIN
•   Pepperdine transfer Eric Hadigian currently holds a 6-3 singles record in his first year at SMU.
•   Hadigian posted a 9-1 singles record in the fall in two tournaments.
•   Hadigian posted tournament victories in both of his fall competitions (Cowboy Classic, ITA Regional Consolation Championship) for SMU.
•   Hadigian finished the fall season ranked No. 122 in the ITA's final fall singles poll.

THIS YEAR'S GAUNTLET
•   The Mustangs will face off with 17 teams that finished ranked inside the top-75 of the final 2023 ITA standings in June.
•   Of those matchups, SMU will host:
   Rice (W, 4-1)
   Arkansas (L, 4-2)
   Cal (W, 5-2)
   Wisconsin (Mar. 16)
   Middle Tennessee (Mar. 17)
   Tulane (Mar. 30)
   Memphis (Apr. 7)
   TCU (Apr. 11)
•   SMU will play a total of 15 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.

JERRY'S WORLD
•   Furman transfer Jerry Barton holds an 8-5 singles record this season.
•   Barton was ranked No. 88 in the ITA's Feb. 7 singles poll and No. 98 in the final fall poll.
•   Barton was selected as a singles qualifying wild card at the 2024 Dallas Open, where he competed against Denis Kudla.
•   Barton holds a ranked win on the season against USC's No. 73 Lodewijk Weststrate.

CLOUD NINE
•   Junior Louis Cloud is currently 7-3 in singles play for SMU this season.
•   Last season, 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 Chengdu, 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.

TO THE MAKS
•   Florida State transfer Maks Silagy holds an 9-5 record in singles play.
•   The junior clinched SMU's 4-1 win against AAC foe Rice with his 6-2, 7-6(10) victory over Santiago Navarro.

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.

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
•   Three Mustangs - Liam Krall, Callaway Clark and Louis Cloud - traveled to Chengdu, 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.

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.

UP NEXT
•   SMU travels to take on No. 14 San Diego at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center at 8 a.m. (CT) on Mar. 24.