March 22, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis men's tennis team will travel to Birmingham, Ala., for mid-week matches against Birmingham-Southern and UAB. The match between the Tigers and Panthers will commence at 4 p.m., on Tues., March 23 at the BSC Tennis Complex. Memphis and UAB will begin play on Wed., March 24 at 2 p.m.

"Wednesday will be our third match of the season against a conference opponent," said head coach Paul Goebel. "It is always good for us to get matches against conference opponents to prepare us for what we will see at the end of the year at the conference tournament. UAB and Birmingham-Southern will both be tough opponents for us this week."

The Tigers come into the week with an overall mark of 7-8 after splitting matches last week, defeating Murray State, 7-0, but falling to Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-3. Memphis is led by the play of their doubles teams on the season. The Tigers' three doubles tandems have captured nine doubles points on the season, including doubles point victories over Tulsa, currently ranked 39th in the nation, and Oklahoma State, the No. 54 team in the nation.

David Henry and Jordan Smith have led the way for the Tigers in doubles. The pair has a record of 10-4 on the season. Three of four losses for the duo came to opponenrs ranked among the top 40 doubles pairs in the nation, including 12th-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Aleksey Bessonov of Oklahoma State, currently ranked No. 12 in the country.

In singles, the Tigers are currently led at the top of the lineup by senior Charlie Ramsay. The native of Chattanooga, Tenn., has a 6-7 record on the year. Junior Michael Gaerthoeffner leads the Tigers in singles victories with a 10-5 record on the year.

The Panthers of Birmingham-Southern come into Tuesday's match with a record of 7-6. They are led in singles by Michael Locandro, a senior from Kennesaw, Ga., who comes into Tuesday with a mark at No. 1 singles of 5-1. At the No. 2 position, John Zukley, a sophomore from Mobile, Ala., has a record of 5-5.

J.C. Freeman and Locandro lead the Panthers doubles attack. The pair is 3-3 at No. 1 doubles on the 2010 season.

UAB comes into Wednesday's dual with conference foe Memphis with a record of 6-3. They are led by sophomore Danny Manlow, a native of Somerset, England, at the No. 1 spot. Manlow is 4-1 on the year. At No. 2 singles, David Zimmerman, a freshman from Waldron, Germany, has a 4-0 singles record.

In doubles, Manlow and Daniel Moser own a 2-1 record at the No. 1 spot.

The Tigers lost their last meeting with No. 45 UAB, 4-3, during the 2008 season. Four of the last six meetings between the Tigers and Blazers, dating back to 2001, have been decided by a score of 4-3. Memphis has not defeated the Blazers in the last nine meetings between the two conference rivals.