SMU men’s tennis head coach Carl Neufeld didn’t have much of an answer for the 30-mph winds that blew through Turpin Tennis Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s always windy in Texas,” said Neufeld bluntly, refusing to acknowledge the effects that the weather had on his team’s or the opponent’s performances. However, his Mustangs had all the answers for the No. 36 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, cruising to a 4-1 victory.

With the win, the No. 46 Mustangs (19-7) extended their winning streak to six games heading into the Conference USA Championships this weekend at Turpin Tennis Stadium. They have won nine of their last 10, six of which were on their home courts.

“It’s exciting to win the match,” said Neufeld. “But it’s more exciting to see that we’re playing our best…I told the guys that I think this is the best team that I’ve coached at SMU [in 15 seasons]. It’s good to see them play like it.”

SMU, which earned the tournament’s No. 3 seed, will face Memphis today at 2 p.m. The Mustangs roared past the Tigers, 6-1, on March 29.

SMU gained an early advantage Wednesday by edging the Horned Frogs in two of the three doubles matches.

The teams were deadlocked, 1-1, when the No. 1 pair of David Kuczer and Robin Fahgen battled to an 8-6 victory over Cosmin Cotet and Adrian Simon. With the victory, Fahgen and Kuczer dropped the Horned Frogs’ top doubles team to 14-7 this season.

No. 3 Alex Skrypko and Adolfo Solares also captured an 8-6 win, defeating Zach Nichols and Casey Powers. Oivind Alver and Chris Hooshyar fell to TCU’s Kriegler Brink and Emanhu Brighiu, 8-5.

SMU hasn’t dropped a doubles point since its loss to No. 16 Baylor on March 27.

“Our doubles are getting better,” said Neufeld. “They’ve carried us through late in the season, and they carried us through today.”

A few of SMU’s singles players extended impressive streaks to help the Mustangs stay grounded in the windy conditions.

In the No. 2 match, Fahgen countered Brighiu’s thunderous serve with quickness and excellent shot placement on his way to a 6-0, 6-4 victory. Fahgen, who competed at No. 1 early in the season, has finally found his niche at No. 2, and his 11-match winning streak is evidence of that.

Skrypko, a senior, extended his winning streak to 12 matches at No. 3, downing Nichols, 6-3, 6-3. Skrypko was Conference USA’s Player of the Week during the second week of April.

In the No. 5 match, Solares hammered home an ace for match point, giving him a resounding 6-2, 6-2 victory over Simon.

Hooshyar was leading Powers 7-5, 5-1 when the match was called, and Alver was trailing Brink, who owns a 21-2 record this season, in the third set when that match was halted.

“Our singles play was super,” said Neufeld.

The Mustangs’ only singles loss Wednesday came in the No. 1 match, in which Kuczer faced his fourth-highest-ranked opponent so far this season. The senior wasn’t able to get in sync, often hitting line-drive shots into the net or drifting the ball to the side. The No. 35-ranked Cotet took advantage of Kuczer’s mistakes on his way to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Kuczer’s wounds weren’t entirely self-inflicted, as Cotet pulled a few miraculous shots out of his pocket. With his back against the wall in the second set – down 1-0 and Cotet going for game point – Kuczer hit an approach shot back to Cotet’s baseline and set up shop at the net. Cotet planted his feet and floated a graceful lob over Kuczer’s head and into the backcourt. Kuczer chased but wasn’t able to catch it, instead swinging at the fence in frustration.

That was an aberration for the Mustangs, who delivered most of the match’s highlights.

“David lost a tough match against a really good player,” said Neufeld. “But I’m excited to see everybody playing their best tennis right now. That’s our goal for every year.

“The seniors are playing their best tennis of their careers, and that’s the ultimate goal for us as a team.”