Over their last 10 matches, members of the men’s tennis team (10-6) have won five and lost five, following a trend in which they have not won nor lost two in a row.
The team, ranked No. 44 in the nation, continued the trend Sunday afternoon with a 6-1 loss to the No. 29 California Golden Bears (6-7).
The Mustangs’ No. 1 doubles pair of Paul McNaughton and Federico Murgier opened the match by falling to Cal’s Patrick Briaud and Conor Niland, 8-4.
Juniors Henrik Soderberg and Peter Oredsson (who was named WAC Player of the Week twice in a row in early March) prevented the Golden Bears from a doubles sweep by topping opponents Tyler Browne and Daniel Sebescen.
Freshman David Kuezer garnered SMU’s lone point by winning 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (12-10) over Cal’s Browne.
A native of Szcecin, Poland, Kuezer was recognized for his solid play with his first career WAC Player of the Week honor.
After falling to California, the Mustangs hit the court Wednesday afternoon against the University of Illinois-Chicago (6-7), hoping to avoid losing two in a row for the first time since losses to Texas and South Alabama over a month ago.
Head coach Carl Neufeld, facing his younger brother and Flames coach Hans, wanted to put up a tough match against his sibling.
“Before the game he was wanting us to really give it our all and come out with everyone winning,” said sophomore Elliot Engberg.
Neufeld’s wish came true as McNaughton and Murgier came out swinging against the UIC’s Ivan Kovalev and Andy Lockhart, winning the set 8-3.
Soderberg and Oredsson won again, setting the stage for Gwinyai Chingoka and Kuezer to take down the Flames’ Eric Fey and Paul Gladenning, 8-6.
“We were pretty much focused from the start,” Engberg explained, “and most of the guys had good games.”
In fact, only McNaughton went more than two matches with an opponent before defeating Kazakhstan native Ivan Kovalev 6-1.
“We creamed most of the guys we played,” Engberg said, “but a few of us had close matches.”
Engberg himself narrowly edged UIC’s Andy Lockhart, 6-4 and 7-6.
The Mustangs beat each of their singles opponents en route to a solid 7-0 victory, giving Neufeld a satisfying victory over his younger brother.
The team has nine games remaining before the WAC Championships in Honolulu, only two of which are against in-conference opponents – the No. 48 Tulsa Golden Hurricane (11-8) and No. 26 Rice Owls (9-5).
“Tulsa’s got a tough team,” Engberg said. “It’ll be a tough match.”
Likewise, the Owls will bring a challenge, including some talent from overseas.
“[Rice has] some tough guys from England,” Engberg explained, “But we have a good chance of competing well this year.”
Mens tennis will next face No. 18 Tulane (15-3), hosting the Green Wave Sunday at 12 p.m. in Haggar Stadium.
