Feb. 21, 2009

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Memphis Tigers men's tennis team used a sweep in the doubles matches to help pace them toward a 4-3 defeat of the Georgia State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at the Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss. With the win, the Tigers improve to 6-3 on the year. The win marks the quickest the U of M has reached the six win mark since the 1999 season. The 1999 squad reached six wins on Feb. 26, by defeating Southeast Missouri State, 4-0. All three Memphis losses have come at the hands of teams currently ranked; Mississippi State, Rice and Vanderbilt.

"We had a lot of very good contributions from some guys that hadn't been playing their best tennis," said Memphis head coach Paul Goebel. "We really had a good team effort and it is great to end our trip to Starkville on a good note."

The pace of the match was set early in the doubles portion of the competition. At the No. 1 doubles slot, Jorge Vazquez and Spencer Heflin came away with an 8-6 victory over Georgia State's Nejc Podkrajsek and Martin Shishkov. With the win, Vazquez and Heflin evened up their doubles mark at 3-3. Podkrajsek and Shishkov fall to 3-5 on the year.

At the No. 2 doubles position, Benedikt Fischer and Jordan Smith got back to winning ways with a defeat of Trenton Spinks and Jackson Moore, 8-2. Fischer and Smith improve to 7-4 on the year.

At the No. 3 slot, Leon Nasemann and Charlie Ramsay upended William Ademy and Lucas Thomaz, 8-5. Nasemann and Ramsay move to 2-2 on the year with the defeat of their Georgia State opponents.

In singles, Jorge Vazquez dropped a 6-4, 6-0 decision to 119th-ranked Podkrajsek of Georgia State. Vazquez is currently rated as the 51st-best singles player in the nation. Vazquez is now 7-3 in his first season as an active member of the Memphis men's tennis squad. Of three Vazquez losses, two have come to ranked opponents.

At the No. 2 singles spot, Nasemann upended Shishkov, 6-0, 6-3. Nasemann's 2009 mark now stands at 5-6.

Ramsay, a junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., fell to 4-6 with a loss to Henri Mangin of Georgia State, 6-4, 6-2. Mangin moves to 3-5 this season.

At No. 4 singles, Fischer, a senior from Dusseldorf, Germany, won the first set, 6-3, before dropping the final two sets, 6-3, 6-4, to the Bulldogs' Moore. Fischer drops to 5-6 on the year.

In the No. 5 singles slot, Michael Hayes, a junior transfer from Brunel University in London, England, improved to 4-1 this year by defeating Thomaz, 6-4, 6-4.

Michael Gaerthoeffner, a sophomore from Rheine, Germany, upended Spinks, 7-5, 6-3, to move his 2009 singles mark to 4-4.

The U of M men's tennis team will next take the court on Sun., March 1, at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Memphis 4, Georgia State 3
Pitts Tennis Centre
Starkville, Miss.
Feb. 21, 2009
Doubles
No. 1- Jorge Vazquez/Spencer Heflin (UM) def. Nejc Podkrajsek/Martin Shishkov, 8-6
No. 2- Benedikt Fischer/Jordan Smith (UM) def. Trenton Spinks/Jackson Moore, 8-2
No. 3- Leon Nasemann/Charlie Ramsay (UM) def. William Ademy/Lucas Thomaz, 8-5
Singles
No. 1- 199th-ranked Podkrajsek def. 51st-ranked Vazquez, 6-4, 6-0
No. 2- Nasemann (UM) def. Shishkov, 6-0, 6-3
No. 3- Mangin def. Ramsay (UM), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4- Moore def. Fischer (UM), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 5- Michael Hayes (UM) def. Thomaz, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6- Michael Gaerthoeffner (UM) def. Spinks, 7-5, 6-3