Sept. 30, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--Three members of the U of M men's tennis program are heading to Tulsa, Okla., on Friday to compete in the 2010 D'Novo/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's All-American Championships, hosted by the University of Tulsa. Most notably, the 47th-ranked doubles pair, composed of senior Jordan Smith and junior David Henry, received a bid to compete in Qualifying Doubles.

"We've been working on keeping everything sharp," Henry said. "There's going to be so many top players there, but hopefully we'll be there the whole week."

The duo retired in a match against a pair from Campbell University at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga., last weekend, but won two tournaments on the summer circuit to jump in the rankings from No. 82 and head men's tennis coach Paul Goebel said the tandem needs to take it one match at a time.

"I'm really proud of David and Jordan for the hard work they did this summer," Coach Goebel added. "It allowed them to achieve the highest preseason national ranking in our program's history."

Smith, who grew up in Memphis and Henry, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., also received bids to compete in the Pre-qualifying Singles draw, along with freshman David O'Hare from Dublin, Ireland.

"I probably don't even understand how big of a deal it is," O'Hare said. "I'm definitely excited to go, but at the moment it's just another tournament in my eyes, which is probably a good thing."

Pre-qualifying Singles matches are slated for Saturday and Sunday, Oct.2-3, and Qualifying Singles draws will take place Monday to Wednesday, Oct. 4-6, with doubles kicking off on Oct. 5.

The other members of the Memphis men's tennis program will be competing as well, but in a different location. The rest of the Tigers traveled on Thursday to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the 27th annual UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic, hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Matches for those netters begin Friday, Oct. 1 and conclude on Sunday, Oct. 3.

UTC Steve Baras Men's Draws