Sept. 10, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--The Memphis men's tennis program doesn't begin its season for a few more weeks, but it's already off to a good start for senior Jordan Smith and junior David Henry. On Friday, the doubles pair was ranked No. 47 in the 2010-2011 Campbell/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Men's Preseason Doubles Rankings.

Smith and Henry were previously ranked No. 82 at the end of the 2010 spring season but made the jump after success on the summer circuit. They won two of the three tournaments they competed in, getting them to a 26-5 record for 2010.

"I was so excited when coach told us what we we're ranked," Henry said. "We've been training hard and I'm looking forward to this season. Hopefully, we will keep having success and raise our ranking even higher."

Smith and Henry were also selected to the All-Americans in doubles and will compete in the D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., in October.

"That's one of the things we've been working towards since we became partners," Smith said. "We initially said we want to make NCAA's and making All-Americans is the first part in reaching that goal in the spring."

Head coach Paul Goebel said he is proud of how far two have come since this time last year--when they started the season unranked. Goebel added these honors are a great starting point for the 2010 fall season.

"They've worked so hard and the wins this summer proved to be a great thing for them," Goebel said. "They're going to have the opportunity to improve the ranking when they play against some of the country's top competition this fall."

The Tigers open the fall season on Sept. 24 at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga. The next ITA rankings will be released Jan. 4, 2011.