USF Athletics

Full Weekend Ahead for USF; Look to Remain Undefeated at Home

March 07, 2019

TAMPA, March 7, 2019 – USF men's tennis seeks to defend their undefeated home record going into three straight home challenges. The Bulls face No. 38 Tulane on Friday, No. 4 Virginia on Sunday, and George Washington Monday afternoon. All matches will be played at 1:30 p.m.
 
The Bulls (6-4) have won four matches in a row, with No. 29 Alberto Barroso-Campos (Montijo, Spain) holding a 9-1 record on the No. 1 singles court and freshman Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) carrying a 5-2 mark on court No. 2.
 
Barroso-Campos and junior Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) checked in at No. 77 in the ITA Doubles rankings this week, one of only three American Athletic Conference pairs on the list.
 
Tulane
No. 38 Tulane (4-9), led by head coach Mark Booras in his tenth season, will be the Bulls' first American Athletic Conference test this season. The Green Wave has a pair of ranked wins over No. 18 Tennessee (4-2) and No. 19 Florida State (4-2).
 
Senior Tyler Shick leads the team in singles, with a 7-2 record primarily on court five. No. 72 Luis Erlenbusch has a 4-7 singles record, playing on courts one and two. Shick and Erlensbusch also hold the best doubles record when paired together, holding a 3-1 court two record.
 
South Florida last challenged Tulane in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship final, as the Green Wave ended the Bull's four-year winning streak in a 4-3 finish.
 
Virginia
Virginia (9-2) remains the No. 4 tennis team in the nation under the leadership of head coach Andres Pedroso in his second season. The Cavaliers have defeated three ranked opponents already this season including a 4-2 win over No. 10 Stanford, a 5-2 victory against No. 1 Wake Forest, and a 4-3 route of No. 9 Texas A&M.
 
No. 15 Carl Soderlund leads Virginia with a 9-1 singles record primarily on court one. Other ranked Cavaliers include No. 50 Brandon Nakashima, swinging for 6-3 between courts one and three, No. 92 Gianni Ross who holds a 5-4 record on court four, and
No. 96 Ryan Goetz who is 6-3 on court five.
 
Nakashima and senior Henrik Wiersholm top the team with a 7-1 doubles record from courts two and three, ranking 71^st in ITA doubles. Nakoshima was awarded the AAC Player of the Week honors earlier this season.
 
 
George Washington
George Washington (3-4) is undefeated in the Atlantic 10 Conference, as they aim to improve their 1-2 away record. Rob Castille is in his first season as head coach of the Colonials.
 
Freshman Ben Barnett leads George Washington with a 4-2 singles record on court three. The premiere court is shared by Zicheng Zeng who is 2-2, and Ryan Navarro who holds a 1-2 clip. Both freshmen were awarded the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors earlier this season.
 
Navarro pairs up with junior Dennis Afanasev to lead George Washington in doubles. The pair currently holds a 5-2 court three record, helping extend the team's overall doubles record to 11-9.
 
Last season USF took down the Colonials in Tampa, 6-1.