The SMU men’s tennis team had another impressive weekend, beating both Memphis and Army. SMU competed against Memphis on Saturday at noon, losing only one match.
SMU’s Henrik Soderberg fell to Matt Brewer in the No. 4 singles position 2-6, 3-6. Despite the loss of one match, head coach Carl Neufeld was extremely impressed with the Mustangs’ level of play.
“It was the best, most focused match that we’ve played so far this year,” he said. It was also SMU’s first win in Conference USA play.
SMU will take on both Rice and Tulsa before the end of the month. After an inspiring win over Memphis, the SMU men moved on to defeat Army on Sunday.
Once again, the weather served up an obstacle for both teams; the sun made a dramatic appearance, easily making court temperatures soar above 95 degrees.
The difference in talent levels between the SMU men and their Army opponents was obviously in the Mustangs’ favor. The athleticism of the Army, however, kept SMU players on their toes.
The matches were incredibly physical — lots of running and a number of unbelievable returns from both teams. More points were won by each team as a result of the opponent’s error, not by clean winners.
Talent and experience won out, however, and the Mustang men posted a 7-0 victory over Army. At the No. 1 spot, Peter Oredsson took on left-hander John Houghton in one of the most physically grueling matches of the day.
Even though Oredsson prevailed 6-1, 6-0, the heat and Houghton’s peak physical condition did not make it an easy match.
During most of the No. 2 singles match, it was difficult to tell exactly who was winning without looking at the score. Both SMU’s Federico Murgier and Army’s Phil Muhawi made one unforced error after another. But Muhawi made more errors in the end, allowing Murgier to close the match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Henrik Soderberg had a much better day on Sunday at the No. 4 position, serving well and playing strong defense against Army’s Michael Good.
SMU’s Alex Skrypko had little trouble defeating Army’s Eddie Kang 6-0, 6-1; Kang made numerous unforced errors and gave Skrypko plenty of opportunities to defeat him.
David Kuczer of SMU seemed to have the most difficult match at No. 5, coming back from four games down to beat his opponent Kevin Harris 6-4, 6-4. Olivind Alver defended the No. 6 spot yet again, winning over Sean Harris 6-1, 6-2.
Although No. 71 Army is ranked higher than Memphis, most recently ranked at No. 75, coach Neufeld expected Memphis to be the tougher team.
“I think their talent level is higher, despite their ranking,” said the coach. Regardless of which team is tougher, the Mustangs had no problem beating them both this weekend.
The Mustangs remain undefeated at home and hope to continue that streak through the end of the season.
That could be a difficult goal this upcoming week as SMU prepares to battle TCU on Tuesday here in Dallas.
TCU is ranked No. 23 in the nation, but in the 49 matchups between SMU and TCU, SMU holds a 25-24 advantage.
