No. 46 USF Back on Road for SMU and Oklahoma
TAMPA, March 21, 2019 – Men's tennis is back on the road to challenge American Athletic Conference member SMU on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. ET in Dallas and No. 20 Oklahoma in Oklahoma on Sunday, March 24th at 3 p.m. ET.
USF (12-5, 2-0) defeated Georgia State and No. 37 Tulsa this week. No. 19 Alberto Barroso-Campos (Montijo, Spain) earned his 15th win of the season with a 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) court one defeat of No. 73 Majed Kilani of the Golden Hurricane.
Freshmen Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain) and Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) improved their singles record to 11-5 and 10-4, respectively, with the latter riding a five-match win streak on court two.
Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) earned his first ranked win of the season with a defeat of No. 117 Kody Pearson of Tulsa, 6-3, 6-1. This win marked the eighth time this season Luquet has won in straight sets. In doubles, the junior is paired with Barroso-Campos forming the 66th best duo in the nation with an 8-4 clip on the top court.
Following their recent win against UNF, the Bulls will take a 1-2 road record to SMU and Oklahoma this weekend.
Scouting the Opponents
SMU
SMU is led by Grant Chen in his first season with the team. The Mustangs enter the match without a single ranked win in their 2019 campaign.
SMU (10-9, 0-0) and USF saw each other last season where the Bulls came away with a 5-2 victory at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
Recent American Conference Player of the Week, Carles Sarrio, plays court one for the Mustangs with a 9-6 record so far this season. Jan-Simon Vrbsky leads the team in singles, with an 11-6 clip primarily on court two. When paired with Thomas Vaise, the pair top the Mustangs in doubles, 6-4, on court one.
No. 20 Oklahoma
No. 20 Oklahoma faces South Florida for the first time in three seasons, with Nick Crowell in his third year at the helm. The two teams' last meeting was in the 2016 where the Sooners left victorious, 4-1.
Oklahoma's (12-3) 2019 season includes wins against four ranked teams, No. 50 Memphis, No. 21 FSU, No. 45 Tulsa, and No. 49 Kentucky.
Oklahoma's ranked singles members include No. 49 challenger Alexander Bakshi, swinging 6-3 between courts one and three, Big 12 Player of the Week No. 54 Spencer Papa who holds down court one, 5-2, and No. 88 Jake Van Emburgh who comes in at 7-2, mainly on court two.
Ferran Calvo leads the team in singles, 8-2, playing primarily on court three. Along with Jake Van Emburgh, the pair is Oklahoma's best doubles pair with an 8-3 record.
About Men's Tennis
Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head coach Ashley Fisher will begin his third year at the helm of the program for the 2019 season after leading the Bulls to their fifth straight appearance in The American Championship.
– #GoBulls –
