Tulane University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
#39 Mississippi State
Men’s Tennis Hosts Mississippi State on Friday
Feb 22, 2018 | Men's Tennis
NEW ORLEANS - Following a five-day break, the Tulane men's tennis team will host Mississippi State on Friday, February 23 at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Tulane (4-2) completed a 7-0 sweep of Nicholls on Sunday, February 18 behind a pair of doubles wins on courts one and two. The Green Wave finished off the Colonels with straight set victories on all six singles courts, as junior Tim Ruetzel played at the No. 5 position and junior Eric Wagner earned his first win of the spring campaign at the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Bulldogs (5-1) enter Friday's match after 14 days of rest, with their last contest resulting in a 6-1 home victory over San Diego State on February 9. Ranked 39th in the latest ITA team rankings, Mississippi State possesses three ranked singles players, including No. 4 Nuno Borges, No. 20 Giovanni Oradini and No. 70 Strahinja Rakic. Borges is 5-0 playing No. 1 singles, while Oradini and Rakic are 4-1 playing at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively.
In doubles, the Bulldogs have just one doubles team listed in the poll with Florian Broska and Trevor Foshey holding a No. 51 listing. The duo is 4-0 overall and 1-0 this spring.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest Oracle/ITA team rankings, Tulane ranks No. 30 nationally, which is currently the highest of any American Athletic Conference program. The Green Wave's highest ranking this season was No. 20, matching its 2017 high, which is also their highest under head coach Mark Booras' leadership.
The Wave has two players listed in the singles poll and two doubles teams ranked. Senior and 2017 All-America choice Constantin Schmitz holds the Wave's highest singles ranking at No. 24, followed by junior Tyler Schick at No. 95.
Schick and Erlenbusch, who own an 11-4 overall record and 3-1 mark at the No. 2 position in the doubles lineup this spring, rank 50th nationally as the Wave's only ranked tandem.
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Constantin Schmitz was named the first American Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the 2018 spring season on Jan. 23 after a 6-3, 6-2 singles victory over No. 78 Christian Langmo to clinch the match in the Green Wave's 6-1 season-opening victory over Miami (Fla.). The weekly nod was the sixth of Schmitz's career, as he received the honor five times last season in addition to the being named the league's player of the month in October of 2016.
ONE TOUGH SLATE
Tulane increased the intensity of its 2018 spring schedule and will face 10 teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. In addition to American Athletic Conference foes USF, Memphis and SMU, the Green Wave will do battle with California, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Rice, TCU, Texas, and Stanford.
RAISING THE BAR
The Green Wave won 19 dual matches during the 2017 season, the most for the program in the post-Katrina era. The previous best was 16, set in 2016.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
