SMU’s Oivind Alver prepares to hit the ball. (Sarah Acosta)
With only three matches left, the No. 61 SMU men’s tennis team will play two in Dallas. The Mustangs face the University of Texas-Arlington today at the Bent Tree Country Club at 2 p.m. and finish the regular season with a home match against Florida Atlantic on April 17. In between home games, SMU plays its last conference match of the season when the team heads to Rice on April 13.
The Mustangs are on a six-match win streak, 13-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play this season. SMU’s contest against Rice will be the team’s second conference match and the Mustangs’ final C-USA match-up before the conference championships in Houston April 20-22.
No. 72 Alex Skrypko leads the Mustangs in the No. 1 singles spot and pairs with Federico Murgier at No. 1 doubles. Skrypko is 8-8 at No. 1 this season and 8-5 in doubles. Murgier is 6-9 overall this season. The senior has played No. 4 singles for the Mustangs in recent matches. In his last 10 matches, Murgier is 5-1.
David Kuczer is on a five-match win streak for SMU at No. 2 singles. The junior is 9-8 in dual matches and 8-6 at No. 2 this season. He and partner Adolfo Solares are 5-2 at No. 3 doubles and are currently on a four-match win streak.
Oivind Alver and Robin Faghen pair up at No. 2 and hold the team’s best doubles record of 10-5. In singles, Alver has taken over the No. 3 spot in three of the Mustangs’ last four matches. He is 4-1 at that spot this season and 7-8 overall in dual matches.
Faghen, a freshman, holds the team’s second-best overall singles record of 12-5. He’s spent the majority of the season defending the No. 5 spot, where he holds a 6-4 record.
Solares and red-shirt freshman Chris Hooshyar share the No. 6 position. Solares is 12-3 this season, the best record on the team, while Hooshyar is 8-5.
The Mavericks of UTA are 9-8 this season with a 4-1 loss to conference opponent No. 38 Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Monday.
Following the match against UTA, SMU heads to Houston to take on C-USA opponent Rice.
