March 22, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team (5-8, 1-1 C-USA) will put its two-match winning streak on the line, Friday, with a league contest at UAB (6-5, 2-1 C-USA). The match will begin at 1:30 p.m. (CT).

Memphis won its last two matches last weekend, sweeping Indiana State, then downing Tennessee Tech, 6-1. The two wins snapped a four-match Tiger losing skid that included losses to four nationally-ranked teams.

Sophomore Benedikt Fischer and freshmen Spencer Heflin and Charlie Ramsay are all carrying three-match win streaks in to the UAB contest. Fischer, who is 7-6 in dual season play, is 6-4 in his last 10 singles matches and is now 5-3 at No. 3 singles and 2-3 at No. 1 and 2 singles combined. Heflin's three wins have all come at No. 6 singles, where he is 4-2 on the season. The MUS product is now 5-4 in dual season play and has gone 5-5 through his last 10 singles matches. Ramsay's last three wins have pushed him to 7-6 in dual season play, all at No. 4 singles.

The battle will start with doubles play between UAB and Memphis though. The Tigers have relied on their No. 2 and 3 doubles tandems to grab the point in each of the last two matches, as the team of Spencer Heflin and Garrison Pilant used a pair of wins last weekend to improve to 4-8 on the season at No. 3 doubles while the tandem of Charlie Ramsay and Jimmy Khougassian lead the doubles line-up with a 6-6 mark at No. 2. Ramsay and Khougassian also have a two-match win streak and have gone 6-4 over their last 10 matches.

Atop the doubles line-up, the duo of Amrit Narasimhan and Benedikt Fischer are looking to snap a six-match losing streak. The duo has faced tough competition in a schedule that has already included eight nationally-ranked opponents in the team standings, and that competition has edged the Tigers' top tandem in 9 of the 12 matches the duo has competed in.

UAB is coming in to the match off a shutout of UT Martin. The young Blazers line-up has been up and down all season, never winning more than three straight matches, but having closed out wins in three of their last four outings. Similar to Memphis, UAB defeated East Carolina, 4-3, and lost to UCF, 6-1. But UAB also has one more conference win as the Blazers downed Southern Miss, 5-2, while the Tigers will not face USM until Apr. 6th.

Memphis will return home to close out the 2006-07 home stand with a four-match schedule that begins against Southeast Louisiana, Apr. 3rd. Memphis will also host Murray State (Apr. 4th), Southern Miss (Apr. 6th) and No. 72 UALR (Apr. 11th) before closing the regular season at No. 39 Middle Tennessee, Apr. 14th.