Feb. 5, 2004
The University of Memphis men's tennis team will open its 2004 spring home schedule, Friday, when Illinois State comes to Memphis to face the Tigers.
Illinois State advanced to the semifinals of last year's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, falling 4-1 to then-No. 72 Wichita State. The Redbirds return just four players from that 14-9 team, but are already off to a 2-1 mark this season, picking up wins over Eastern Illinois, 4-0, and St. John's 4-3. The Eastern Illinois win gave Illinois State head coach Greg Kennett his 100th career victory.
Illinois State has gotten some key contributions from its freshman class already in 2004, and will be a difficult home opening opponent for the Tigers.
"Theys are a good team," Tiger head coach Phil Chamberlain said. "We played some outstanding tennis at Tennessee Tech, if we played that way all year, I'd be happy, but (Illinois State) will be a tough opponent for us."
Against No. 49 Notre Dame, the Redbirds' only loss of the early season, the Redbirds took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Freshman Guilermo Gomez and sophomore Alban Renard won their No. 2 doubles match, 8-6, while the team of junior Ben Cappuccitti and freshman Tim Link won the No. 3 doubles match, 8-3. Gomez and Renard then went on to win the Flight 2 doubles title at the Missouri Valley Individual Championships last weekend while the No. 1 team of junior Ben Pettinari and sophomore Djordje Uskokovic fell in the championship match, 8-4. Freshman Tim Link won the Redbirds' only singles title at the Valley Championships, winning the No. 7 singles crown over freshman teammate Guillermo Gomez, 6-2, 6-2.
About the Match-up
This will be the first-ever meeting between Illinois State and the Tigers under Head Coach Phil Chamberlain. Illinois State, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, is in the process of building a schedule that Tiger fans are familiar with. In order to get his team into the national rankings, Redbird head coach Greg Kennett and his Redbirds have already faced one nationally-ranked team, and after playing at nationally-ranked Memphis, Friday, will travel to No. 4 Vanderbilt for a non-conference match, Saturday. The Redbirds will face two other C-USA opponents during the regular season. They host Marquette, Feb. 22nd, and travel to Saint Louis, March 27th.
About the Tigers
Memphis is also off to a 2-1 start, with the Tigers' lone loss coming at No. 54 Tennessee, 6-1. Junior Marten Tamla is off to a 3-0 start for his Tiger dual career, having won all three matches at No. 4 singles, including one against his former team, UT Martin, in a Tiger sweep.
Lee Taylor Walker
Walker, the No. 48 ranked singles player in the country, has a 2-1 mark at No. 1 singles for the Tigers so far this season, with his lone loss coming to No. 64 Simon Rea at Tennessee in the Tigers' season opener.
"Lee played almost perfect tennis in the win over Tennessee Tech," Chamberlain said. "He played as well as I've seen him play there."
Walker is also 1-1 at No. 1 doubles with freshman James Spence. The duo did not finish their doubles match against UT Martin, after dropping their season opener at Tennessee.
Trey Brower
Brower, a walk-on to the Tiger roster, has not played in a dual match this spring.
Alex Bucewicz
Bucewicz bounced back from a season-opening loss at Tennessee at No. 3 singles to win both No. 3 matches against UT Martin and Tennessee Tech. Bucewicz, who has now won 53 singles matches in his three-year Tiger career, is also 2-1 at No. 2 doubles, teaming with Marten Tamla for a 1-1 mark and a 1-0 mark with Tiger newcomer Sam Withell.
Mark Finnegan
Finnegan, who transferred to Memphis from Georgia Southern over the summer, has not played in a dual match yet this spring.
Andrew Olswing
Olswing, one of two Memphis-area products to walk-on to the Tiger roster, has not played in a dual match yet this spring.
Marten Tamla
Tamla is the lone Tiger to win his first three singles matches, going 3-0 at no. 4 singles in the Tigers' first road weekend. This weekend will be Tamla's first home dual matches in a Tiger uniform. Tamla is also 1-1 in doubles in 2004, posting that mark at No. 1 doubles with fellow junior Alex Bucewicz.
Alex Jago
Sophomore Alex Jago is off to a 2-1 start at No. 6 singles for the Tigers in 2004. Jago is also 2-0 at No. 3 doubles with freshman Luke Campbell. Jago is one win away from his 20th career singles victory in his third semester as a Tiger. He joined the Tigers in January of last year, missing the fall season.
Luke Campbell
Campbell saw his first action of his young collegiate career on the doubles side of the scoresheet, teaming with fellow Aussie Alex Jago to go 2-0 at No. 3 doubles in wins over Tennessee Tech and UT Martin.
James Spence
Spence picked up his 6th and 7th singles victories of his career with wins at UT Martin and Tennessee Tech, a 2003 NCAA Tournament team. Spence is 2-1 at No. 2 singles and is 1-1 at No. 1 doubles with senior teammate Lee Taylor Walker.
Sam Withell
Withell joined the Tigers just before the team left for the Tennessee weekend, and jumped right into the fire. The freshman dropped his first collegiate match at No. 5 singles at Tennessee, but answered back with wins at UT Martin and Tennessee Tech to improve to 2-1. Withell also contributed to a doubles win at No. 2 doubles with junior Alex Bucewicz.
The match
The match between the Redbirds and Tigers will start at 2 p.m. It will be the Tigers' last match until Feb. 20th when they travel to No. 67 Middle Tennessee for a rematch of last year's exciting 4-3 victory. The Racquet Club of Memphis will host the Kroger/St. Jude Tennis tournament, beginning Feb. 16th and running until the 22nd. Tiger head coach Phil Chamberlain is the assistant tournament director of the event, which welcomes both the men's and women's professional tennis tours into the private club for a week-long event.
