The SMU men’s tennis team began 2007 with a 6-1 win over Lamar before losing to No. 12 University of Texas this weekend. The no. 39 Mustangs fell to the Longhorns 5-2 on Sunday.

The team managed to start off its season despite not having a home venue. The Haggar Tennis stadium was torn down in the fall in order to make room for the new basketball practice facility. The Mustangs are using area country clubs this season instead.

The match against Texas, which lasted four hours, pitted No. 96 Milan Mihailovic against SMU’s Alex Skrypko at the No. 1 position. The Mustang junior won the first set, but was unable to pull out the victory. Mihailovic ended the match after three hours and a tiebreaker at 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

The only SMU victories in singles were Olivind Alver’s victory over no. 100 Rook Schellenberg at the No. 4 position and freshman Rob Fahgen’s two-set win over Jonah Kane-West at No. 6. After Alver’s win over Schellenberg 6-1,7-5, the Mustangs were within one point of the Longhorns. Losses at the no. 1, 2, 3 and 5 positions, however, caused the Mustangs to fall to Texas.

The Mustangs did not fare much better against the Longhorns in doubles. SMU won the No. 1 position with Skrypko and partner Federico Murgier. The duo beat Mihailovic and Miguel Varela from UT 8-6. At No. 2, David Kuczer and Chris Kooshyar fell 8-5 to Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala, while Alver and Fahgen lost 8-5 in the No. 3 position.

Head coach Carl Neufeld told smumustangs.com, “I am very excited to see the team at this level of play in only the second week of the season. Our goal is always to play our best towards the end of the season…this match is a very big step forward improving our level of play.”

The Dallas Country Club hosted the SMU vs. Texas match, but the Mustangs will move to the Bent Tree Country Club to host their next two matches. SMU faces Clemson on Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. in Dallas.