No. 46 Men's Tennis Hosts UT-Arlington in First Night Match

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No. 46 Men's Tennis Hosts Texas-Arlington in First Night Match at SMU
Mustangs (17-7) Welcome Mavericks (9-9) to Turpin Tennis Stadium


DALLAS (SMU)--The No. 46 men's tennis team hosts the first night match ever held on the campus of SMU this Wednesday, April 9 at 7pm when the Mustangs welcome Texas-Arlington to Turpin Tennis Stadium.

Scouting the Mustangs: The No. 46 Mustangs are 17-7 on the season, after sweeping their three matches last week, including an upset over No. 19 Rice last Sunday. After the win, the Mustangs jumped 14 places in the latest ITA poll. SMU is 104-38 (.732) in singles and 37-20 (.649) in doubles. In singles, the Mustangs are led by senior Alex Skrypko (14-6), who has won his last 10-straight singles matches and who was just tabbed Conference USA Player of the Week for his efforts. SMU also relies heavily on David Kuczer (15-4), Robin Fahgen (14-5) and Adolfo Solares (12-2) to bolster their deep roster. The Mustangs' best doubles record belongs to Oivind Alver and Chris Hooshyar, who have won their last three matches and have amassed a 10-8 record this season.

Last Time Out: The Mustangs defeated Conference USA rival then-No. 19 Rice last Sunday in the first match of a doubleheader. SMU downed the Owls by a count of 5-0, after winning the doubles point and clinching match point in two singles matches simultaneously. Skrypko, Alver, Solares and Hooshyar each downed their Rice counterparts in straight sets and the pairs of Skrypko/Solares and Hooshyar/Alver each were victorious over their opponents. Fahgen/Kuczer was up 7-0 over No. 22 Knupfer/Muller at No. 1 when the match was called. In the second match over the doubleheader, the Mustangs capped the evening by blanking Grambling State, 7-0. The Mustangs won every match to close out the day's work.

Scouting the Mavericks: The Texas-Arlington Mavericks are 9-9 on the season so far, with losses to Baylor, Texas, Nicholls State, TCU, UALR, Sacramento State, New Mexico State, Wichita State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Mavericks are led in singles by freshman David Costa at No. 1, who boasts a record of 10-8, including winning his last five straight, earning him his second Southland Conference Player of the Week honor.

About the Turpin Tennis Stadium: The Turpin Tennis Stadium is a brand new outdoor tennis facility constructed on the campus of SMU. The center opened with a men's tennis match against C-USA rival Memphis on March 29. The six outdoor courts are fully lit and feature stadium-style seating around the perimeter of the courts. Wednesday's match marks the first night match ever held on the campus of SMU.

On the Horizon: The Mustangs will close out their regular season by hosting cross-town rival No. 34 TCU on Wednesday, April 16 at 2pm. SMU will have precious little time to regroup before hosting the Conference USA Men's Tennis Championships at the Turpin Tennis Stadium April 18-20. For the complete schedule, results and C-USA Championships ticket information, log on to SMUMustangs.com.