Tulane University
Michigan State
Men's Tennis Hosts Tripleheader Including Michigan State, Alcorn State
Mar 8, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LAST TIME OUT
Tulane (6-5) suffered a 4-3 home defeat to Memphis in an American Athletic Conference home match on Wednesday afternoon in a tightly-contested match throughout. The Tigers won the doubles point and the first singles match to grab early momentum, but the Green Wave countered with consecutive singles victories by Tim Ruetzel on court six and Tyler Schick on court four. Memphis pulled back in front, but Tulane leveled the match, 3-3, with a win by Luis Erlenbusch on court five. The Tigers closed out the No. 1 position in three sets to clinch the match.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans (6-7) enter Friday's matchup with wins in their last two matches and three of their last four, but have not played in 13 days since a doubleheader sweep over Ball State and Detroit Mercy at home on Feb. 24. They share two common opponents with Tulane, including Vanderbilt and Memphis, but dropped 6-1 and 7-0 road decisions, respectively. Michigan State possesses just one player with a winning record in dual matches this spring, as John Carlin holds 4-3 ledger.
SCOUTING ALCORN STATE
The Braves (0-5) also have not played in 13 days after having two matches rained out on Feb. 24. Alcorn has played all of its matches away from home, which includes setbacks against Florida A&M, Southern Miss, New Orleans, Mississippi College and Prairie View A&M. Nuno Rocha leads the team with a 2-1 singles ecord this spring playing at the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest Oracle/ITA team rankings, Tulane ranks No. 34 nationally, which is currently the highest of any American Athletic Conference program. The Green Wave's highest ranking this season was No. 20, matching their 2017 high, which is also the highest under head coach Mark Booras' leadership.
The Wave has two players listed in the singles poll and one doubles teams ranked. Senior and 2017 All-America choice Constantin Schmitz holds the Wave's highest singles ranking at No. 15, followed by sophomore Ewan Moore at No. 77.
Tyler Schick and Luis Erlenbusch, who own a 12-7 overall record and 4-4 mark at the No. 2 position in the doubles lineup this spring, rank 80th nationally as the Wave's only ranked tandem.
CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ewan Moore was chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week on Feb. 27, after posting a 2-0 mark at No. 2 singles and 1-0 at No.1 doubles for the Green Wave, including a straight set victory over the nation's No. 20 player, Giovanni Oradini of 39th-ranked Mississippi State, 6-4, 6-4, on Friday evening. He followed up that performance by outlasting Connor Curry, 7-6(4), 6-4, as part of a 7-0 Tulane rout of 21st-ranked Texas Tech just two days later.
Constantin Schmitz was named The American's first 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.
Players Mentioned
