Jan. 10, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. - - The University of Memphis men's tennis team will get an early start to the 2008 spring season by participating in the four-team USF Invitational in Tampa beginning on Friday.

The Tigers will face players from three teams, including Florida A&M, The College of William & Mary and host USF.

This is the third straight season the Tigers have opened the spring at the USF tournament, with the results counting in the players' individual records, but the results not counting in the team record. Memphis is expecting to face host USF Friday in the opening round at 2 p.m., then will face Florida A&M Saturday at 9 a.m. Memphis will round out the early season slate with a 9 a.m. tournament match against William & Mary, another team making its third appearance at the USF tournament with the Tigers.

Friday's match will be the first match of the year for German Leon Naseman, who just joined the Tigers last week. Sunday's match against William & Mary will be the first of 10 matches against nationally-ranked opponents for the Tigers, as the Tribe is No. 43 in the country in the first regular season rankings of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Memphis will also face No. 33 Vanderbilt, No. 75 San Diego, No. 50 San Diego State, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 34 Oklahoma, No. 24 Tulsa, No. 47 SMU and No. 51 Middle Tennessee as part of the regular season. All of those matches except the Middle Tennessee match will be played on the road.

The Tigers will next host an Alumni Match at The Racquet Club of Memphis, Jan. 20th, at 6 p.m. From there, the team will open the season with a non-conference match against Austin Peay at WellWorx, on Jan. 25th at 1 p.m. Memphis will follow that match with a doubleheader with the Lady Tiger Tennis team against UT Martin on Jan. 27th.