Men's Tennis Falls to Memphis, 4-3

Wednesday, March 7

New Orleans

1 PM

Tulane University

#45 Memphis

Photo by: Parker Waters

Mar 7, 2018 | Men's Tennis

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane men's tennis team dropped its second straight match, 4-3, to American Athletic Conference foe Memphis on Wednesday afternoon at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center.

The Green Wave struggled to grab early momentum with the start of doubles play, as the Tigers earned a quick, 6-1 win at the No. 1 position, before holding on at the No. 3 spot with a 6-3 victory to clinch the doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead in the overall match heading into singles play.

Memphis extended its advantage early in singles with a straight set victory on court two, but Tim Ruetzel had a response on court six with a 7-5, 6-1 win to cut the Wave's deficit in half, 2-1. Tyler Schick leveled the scoreboard when he bounced back from a 6-0 defeat in the first set to win the final two frames, 6-3 and 6-2.

The Tigers pulled in front again with a three-set win on court three, but Luis Erlenbusch countered with one of his own, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, on court five to leave the deciding match on court one, where 15th-ranked Constantin Schmitz was in the third set of his bout with 63rd-ranked Ryan Peniston. Schmitz claimed the first set, 7-6(4), but stumbled in the second set, 6-2. Peniston earned an early break in the third frame to claim a 3-1 edge and eventually held on for the 6-4 triumph to clinch the match for Memphis.

Tulane remains at home for a rare triple-header on Friday, March 9. The Green Wave will host Michigan State at 11 a.m., before facing Alcorn State twice at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively. All three matches will be played at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center,

#45 Memphis 4, #34 Tulane 3

Singles competition
1. #63 Ryan Peniston (MEM) def. #15 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4
2. Andrew Watson (MEM) def. #77 Ewan Moore (TLN) 7-5, 6-0
3. Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Hamish Stewart (TLN) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
4. Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Chris Patzanovsky (MEM) 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Felix Rauch (MEM) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
6. Tim Ruetzel (TLN) def. Jan Pallares (MEM) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Ryan Peniston/Andrew Watson (MEM) def. Constantin Schmitz/Ewan Moore (TLN) 6-1
2. Tim Ruetzel/Hamish Stewart (TLN) vs. Kai Lemke/Marshall Sullivan (MEM) 4-3, unfinished
3. Jan Pallares/Matt Story (MEM) def. #80 Tyler Schick/Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,6,4,3,5,1)