Feb. 21, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team (2-3) will open its 2007 Conference USA schedule with a pair of matches at a Conference USA shootout, beginning Thursday.

The Tigers will open against host UCF, which is ranked No. 71 in the latest FILA/ITA Rankings released Wednesday. Memphis and the Golden Knights will square off at 2 p.m. (ET) to open the shootout. UCF is 4-3 on the season, and is 3-1 at home. Sophomore Tarek Ben Soltane and junior Sinan Sudas have split time at No. 1 singles, with Ben Soltane carrying a 1-3 record, while Sudas is 1-2 at No. 1.

Freshman Johan Beigart leads the Golden Knights with a 5-1 mark at No. 4 singles. He and Sudas also team up at No. 1 doubles, where the duo is 4-3 on the season and is looking to snap a two-match losing streak.

The depth of the UCF doubles line-up has helped the Golden Knights go 2-2 against ranked opponents and the No. 2 and No. 3 teams are each on win streaks heading in to Thursday's match. The team of Norman Alcantara and Brock Sakey have won three straight and are 6-1 at No. 2, while the team of Ben Soltane and Jimmy Roesch are 3-3 at No. 3.

Following the UCF match, Memphis will wrap up its portion of the shootout with a Friday morning match against East Carolina, beginning at 9 a.m. (ET). ECU is 4-5 overall on the season and is 0-2 against ranked opponents so far this season. The Pirates have five freshman on the roster and are coming off a 4-3 win at Davidson.

Sophomore Aleksey Kochetov has played a majority of the matches at No. 1, sporting a 2-4 mark. He also has teamed with both Matt Peeler and Henrique Viana at No. 1 doubles. He and Viana are 2-4 at No. 1 doubles, while Stephen Whitwell has teamed with two different teammates for a 2-3 mark at No. 2 doubles.

Memphis is playing three straight matches away from home counting this weekend's conference matches. The Tigers will play at No. 4 Ole Miss, next Wednesday, in Oxford.