Jan. 27, 2011

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--The 58th-ranked Memphis men's tennis program hosts its first home matches of the 2011 season this weekend at The Racquet Club of Memphis, when it faces Tennessee Tech (0-2) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and UT-Chattanooga (0-2) at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Memphis (1-1, 0-1) enters the weekend ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 75 for the first time since January of the 2006 season.

The Tigers jumped in the rankings following a 5-2 win over No.47 Oklahoma State in their last outing, propelled by several singles wins after senior Jordan Smith and junior David Henry sealed the doubles point for the Tigers with a 9-8 (10-8) victory over OSU's Vlad Bondarenko and Maniel Bains at the No. 2 position.

Freshmen Joe Salisbury and David O'Hare remain at No. 52 in the ITA doubles rankings, with the next polls set to be released Feb. 17. The duo is 0-2 at No. 1 doubles with losses to the 9th-ranked pair in the country, Aleksey Bessonov and Rifat Biktyakov of OSU, in a tight match, 8-6, and Tulsa's top tandem, Grant Ive and Alastair Barnes, 8-4.