March 13, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Memphis men's tennis team has opened their Spring Break road trip by going 2-1, picking up wins over Scottsdale Community College and Glendale Community College, while coming up short against a talented Arizona squad, currently ranked No. 19 in the country. Memphis' record now stands at 8-6 on the season. Coach Paul Goebel's squad is off to their best start since the 2003-04 season. The Tigers will wrap up the week with a match against Cal Poly this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. (CST) at the Robson Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.

At No. 1 singles, Jorge Vazquez has produced a 1-1 record versus his opponents. The senior from La Coruna, Spain, picked up a win on Monday defeating Scottdale Community College's Javier Millan, 6-3, 3-6, 10-4. Vazquez, the nation's 73rd-ranked singles netter, followed up his performance against Millan with a hard-fought battle with Andres Arrango of Arizona. Arrango defeated Vazquez, winning a tiebreaker in the first set, 7-2, and narrowly escaping defeat in the second set, 7-5. Vazquez's record now stands at 9-5 on the season.

Leon Nasemann has also played at the No. 1 spot during the Tigers' road trip in the Southwest. The sophomore from Wuppertahl, Germany, had the opportunity to occupy the top spot against Glendale Community College on Monday. Nasemann came away with win against the Gauchos, defeating Stephen Elliott, 6-0, 6-0. Nasemann played at the No.2 position against Scottsdale Community College. Against the Fighting Artichokes he upended Tyson McGuffin, 6-2, 6-0. The Memphis netter played No. 3 singles for the U of M against No. 19 Arizona, falling 6-3, 6-4, to Ravis Hazi. Nasemann's 2009 singles record is 7-9 in his second season with the program.

Benedikt Fischer, a senior from Dusseldorf, Germany, has played at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 positions over the trip. In his first match of the week, Fischer won 6-2, 6-2, over Luis Laura of Scottsdale Community College at the No. 4 slot. The Tiger captain picked up a second win in the following match, defeating Glendale Community College's Joseph Garcia, 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 position. Against the Wildcats, Fischer played No. 2 singles, where he fell at the hands of Andres Carrasco, 6-2, 6-2. Fischer's record moves to 7-9 on the season.

Charlie Ramsay, a junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., has posted a 2-1 mark over the week. Ramsay put up a fight against Pat Metham of Arizona on Wednesday. Metham defeated Ramsay in the first set, 6-4, before the Tiger netter rebounded with a 6-2 defeat of Metham in the second set. In a third set tiebreaker, Metham came away with the victory at No. 4 singles, 10-8. On Monday, Ramsay upended the Fighting Artichoke's Sean O'Grady, 6-3, 7-6. He also triumphed in the second match of the day, defeating Matthew Fesko of the Gauchos, 6-0, 6-1. Ramsay's record moved to 6-8 on the season.

At the No. 5 position transfer Michael Hayes, a native of London, England, went 2-1, picking up wins over Miguel Zepada of Glendale Community College and Pavel Polak of Scottsdale Community College. Hayes fell in a 6-4, 6-3, loss to Jason Zafiros of Arizona. Hayes is 6-2 this season after joining the team as a transfer from Brunel University in January.

At No. 6 singles, Michael Gaerthoeffner, a sophomore from Rheine, Germany, posted a 1-1 mark, picking up a win over Scottsdale Community College's Andrew Waltz, 6-1, 6-1. Gaerthoeffner played a hard-fought dual with Arizona's Ola Bakke, falling in the first set, 6-3. Gaerthoeffner came back and took the second set from Bakke, 4-6. The Arizona netter narrowly secured a victory winning the third-set tiebreaker, 10-8. Gaerthoeffner is 5-7 on the year. Spencer Heflin also played at the No. 6 spot for the Tigers, defeating his opponent from Glendale Community College, 6-0, 6-0. In doubles, the No. 3 doubles tandem of Michael Hayes and Ramsay picked up a win over Arizona's Hazi and Bakke, 9-8(3). Hayes and Ramsay also picked up a win over the Fighting Artichokes Laura and Waltz, 8-4. Hayes and Ramsay have produced a 3-0 mark this season.

Hayes and Gaerthoeffner also played at the No. 3 spot, defeating Elliott and Matthew Tremblay of the Gauchos, 8-0.

The pair of Fischer and Smith has gone 2-1 so far this week. Fischer and Smith upended Daniel Plasencia and McGuffin of Scottsdale Community College, 8-2, and Fesko and Justin Rygil from Glendale Community College, 8-1. The Memphis duo fell at the hands of Arizona's Arrango and Carrasco, 8-2, on Wednesday. Fischer and Smith are 8-7 on the season.

Vazquez and Heflin went 1-1 in doubles, defeating Scottsdale's Millan and O'Grady, 9-8, while falling to Arizona's Metham and Francois VanderMerwe, 9-7. Vazquez and Heflin are 3-5 on the year.

Heflin also teamed with Nasemann against Glendale to defeat Zepeda and Garcia, 8-1. The Tigers will look to build on their week's success against Cal Poly this afternoon. The Mustangs are led by freshman Andre Dome, who has opened his Cal Poly career playing at No. 1 singles, where he picked up a victory over No. 99 Patricio Alvarado of Southern Miss. Dome has twice been named Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week this season.

In doubles competition, the duo of Dome and senior Andrew Gerst have opened the dual season at 3-5, securing a pair of victories at No. 2. Cal Poly enters the week at 4-5.