SMU men’s tennis improved to 10-9 on the season after taking on No. 72 Rice Owls for a 4-3 victory in Houston on Sunday afternoon. This marked the Mustangs third win over a ranked team this season, after defeating No. 70 Tulane on March 3 and No. 61 Idaho on March 31.
The Mustangs came out strong in doubles, winning in both the first and second positions. Arturs Kazijevs and Mischa Nowicki improved their record to 12-4 after an 8-6 (7-5) victory. Kazijevs dominated in singles as well as he took a quick 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jonathan Chang, giving SMU a 2-0 lead. That puts Kazihevs 13-5 and 9-1 in the last 10 decisions. Partners Gaston Cuadranti and Alex Sanders won their match 8-4. Cuadranti came back to give SMU a 3-2 lead after a, 7-5, 6-1, victory over Adam Gustafsson.
The Mustangs are now training for the Conference USA Championships, which will begin Thursday in Memphis, Tenn.
SMU women’s tennis played its final regular season match, with a 4-0 sweep over UTA, winning the top four singles matches, at Northwood Country Club on Wednesday. Mustang seniors Aleksandra Malyarchikova and Edyta Cieplucha were honored.
“Senior day is always very special,” said Kati Gyulai, women’s tennis head coach. “We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of Sasha (Malyarchikova) and Edyta (Cieplucha). They will leave our program as SMU graduates; as Conference USA Champions; NCAA Sweet 16 participants; with national rankings in team, singles and doubles; and in the top 10 for career singles and doubles wins. We congratulate them on a stellar career. They are Mustangs forever.”
The match started with singles, due to weather conditions, starting with the top matchup, No. 73 Malyarchikova, reigning C-USA Player of the Week, taking a 6-0, 6-1 victory. She improved to 22-6 on the season putting her at 85-15 for her career, sixth in SMU history and second in career winning percentage (.850).
Cieplucha did not participate in this match, but is tied for 8 at SMU in career victories with 77-34 in her career, and 10th in winning percentage (.694).
The SMU women’s tennis team is also looking forward to the Conference USA Championship which will be held April 18th through the 24th in Houston.
