No. 42 SMU Hosts Tulane For Match Of The Month | Saturday, 12 PM

No. 42 SMU vs. Tulane | Saturday, Mar. 30 - 12 p.m.
Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex - Dallas, Texas
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SETTING THE SCENE
•   No. 42 SMU hosts conference foe Tulane for its March Match of the Month on Saturday (12 p.m.) at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
•   SMU is 10-1 this season at home, including 2-0 against AAC opponents.
•   SMU defeated Tulane 4-3 to capture the 2023 AAC Tournament title in the programs' last match.
•   Trevor Svajda won five matches in six days at the Cadillac of Calabasas Pro Circuit for his first pro-level title.

KNOW THE FOE
•   Tulane enters the weekend's dual match with a 6-11 overall record and is 1-2 mark versus conference opponents..
•   The Green Wave's duo of Luc Hoeijmans and Alex Bancila rank 71st in the ITA's latest doubles poll (Mar. 19)
•   Mark Booras is in his 15th season as head coach of Tulane.

CALIFORNIA COOL
•   Trevor Svajda earned his first pro-level title at the Cadillac of Calabasas USTA Pro Circuit tournament on Mar. 24.
•   Svajda won five matches in six days to claim the title.
•   The freshman defeated Nishesh Basavareddy in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) in the tournament's championship match.

SEASON AWARDS
•   AAC Player of the Week
   Adam Neff (Feb. 20, Mar. 12)
   Trevor Svajda (Mar. 19)

SPRING RECORDS
•   Singles
   Trevor Svajda (12-4)
   Adam Neff (7-7)
   Jerry Barton (10-5)
   Liam Krall (10-5)
   Maks Silagy (9-6)
   Eric Hadigian (8-4)
   Louis Cloud (9-3)
   Julian Steinhausen (2-1)
   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 (5-3)
   Barton/Svajda (1-1)
   Steinhausen/Silagy (3-4)
   Clark/Sillman (1-0)
   Svajda/Cloud (5-2)

ITA RANKINGS
•   Singles - Trevor Svajda (37), Adam Neff (96)
•   Doubles - Adam Neff/Huntley Allen (59).
•   Team - SMU (42).

'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 currently ranks No. 96 in the ITA singles poll and No. 59 with partner Huntley Allen in the doubles poll.
•   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 to help SMU defeat the Golden Bears 5-2.

SERVIN' SVAJDA
•   Freshman Trevor Svajda joined SMU as the No. 1 tennis recruit in the nation.
•   Svajda has opened his collegiate career with an 12-4 record playing on line one for the Mustangs.
•   Svajda has earned four singles wins over ranked opponents this season (No. 17, No. 29, No. 35, No. 107).
•   Svajda was named the AAC Player of the Week on Mar. 19 after defeating Middle Tennessee's No. 29 Leo Raquin.
•   The San Diego native was selected to play against Nicolas Moreno De Alboran as a singles qualifying wild card at the 2024 Dallas Open.

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.

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 8-4 singles record in his first year at SMU.
•   Hadigian defeated No. 100 Iiro Vasa of No. 12 San Diego in straight sets (6-1, 6-4).
•   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 (W, 7-0), Middle Tennessee (W, 4-1), Tulane (Mar. 30), Memphis (Apr. 7) and 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 10-5 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 9-3 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 9-6 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 will host No. 23 Memphis and UT Dallas on Apr. 7 for the Mustangs' final home doubleheader of the season. SMU's match with Memphis will begin at 11 a.m., with UT Dallas and senior night ceremonies to follow at 5 p.m. (All Times Central).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Huntley Allen

Jerry Barton

Callaway Clark

Louis Cloud

Eric Hadigian

Liam Krall

Kale Mize

Adam Neff

Hughes Peus

Maks Silagy

Kyle Sillman

Alex Stafford

Julian Steinhausen

Liam Sunkel

Trevor Svajda

Alex Yang

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