The men’s tennis team beat Rice Sunday, 4-3, which leaves the Mustangs undefeated at home. SMU is now 16-7 overall and 3-0 in C-USA play. The Mustangs also beat No. 39 Tulsa on Friday in Oklahoma.

In the Rice matchup, the Mustangs got an early point with doubles. At No. 1, David Kuczer and Alex Skrypko paired for a, 8-4, win over Rodrigo Gabriel and Tony Haerle while at No. 3, Federico Murgier and Henrik Soderberg secured the doubles point with a victory over Ben Harknett and Christoph Muller. The No. 2 duo of Oivind Alver and Peter Oredsson against Ralph Knupfer and Filip Zivojinovic did not finish.

In singles action, Alex Skrypko, Frederico Murgier and Oivind Alver all won their matches. At No. 5 singles, Alver and Filip Zivojinovic of Rice had split the first two sets and the score in the third set was tied at two a piece. The points flipped-flopped until Alver powered forward taking the win and clinching the match for the Mustangs.

In Tulsa, the Mustangs battled the 93 degree heat to come out on top against the Golden Hurricane.

Sophomore Alex Skrypko made his first appearance ever at No. 1 singles as he commanded a win over nationally-ranked undefeated Arnau Brugues.

Tulsa sophomore Ross Cunningham beat SMU’s Henrik Soderberg at No. 6 singles.

“It was a close match and very tough competition,” Cunningham said. “I was disappointed that my team lost, so it took away the thrill of winning my match.”

SMU, ranked No. 43 in ITS rankings, won four three-set matches against Tulsa

This was Tulsa’s worst loss, but Cunningham had nothing but good things to say about his competition.

“SMU is such a good team,” he said. “It is a team full of fighters. They fought and competed well in crunch time.”

SMU lost to No. 19 Oklahoma State last Thursday, 4-2.

The Mustangs now await the seedings for the C-USA tournament, and will head to Tulsa, Okla., April 21-23 for the Championship.