The No. 64 Tiger tennis team concluded its final homestand of the season this weekend with wins over New Orleans, Saint Louis and Murray State.
On Friday, Memphis defeated UNO, 6-1, then pounded the Billikens, 7-0, Saturday before producing a similar performance Sunday with a 7-0 victory over Murray State.
Memphis gave up just one point in the three matches and increased its winning streak to six. The Tigers are now 16-5 overall and remain undefeated in Conference USA play at 6-0.
Tiger tennis coach Phil Chamberlain said he was pleased with his team’s performance over the weekend.
“We played our best tennis this weekend,” Chamberlain said. “This past weekend, we had everybody healthy.”
During the UNO match, Memphis picked up the doubles point in sweeping fashion.
Memphis’ doubles pairs defeated New Orleans’ doubles pairs, 8-4, 8-5, 8-4, in straight sets.
In singles competition, Memphis got back-to-back singles victories from juniors Ben Stapp and Joe Schmulian. The Tigers then added two more wins from sophomore Lee Taylor Walker and freshman Alex Bucewicz.
“That was a good sign that everyone was playing well and staying focused,” Chamberlain said.
Memphis continued its red-hot doubles play against the Billikens Saturday, taking the doubles point by defeating Saint Louis, 8-6, 8-0, 8-3, en route to an impressive match win.
On the singles side, Memphis’ momentum from the doubles victories catapulted the Tigers to four singles wins.
Another sweep was just what the Tigers ordered when they took the court in singles action.
At No. 1 singles, Stapp and Schmulian produced singles victories, while seniors Richard Magney and Michael Chamberalin each added wins for the Tigers.
Underclassmen Bucewicz and Walker also increased their singles win totals.
“At this time of the year, the guys are playing with a lot of confidence,” Chamberlain said.
Murray State was next in line for the Tigers and Memphis blanked the Racers, 7-0, Sunday to close out the weekend.
The Tigers’ tandem of Stapp and Walker improved to 14-6 in doubles while Schmulian and Chamberlain continued their winning ways, improving to 15-1.
Memphis’ other doubles team, senior Michael LaHaie and Bucewicz, improved to 15-2.
Stapp improved to 11-7 in singles play while Magney added another win to improve his record to 10-9.
Taylor moved to 12-5 in singles action. Meanwhile, the freshman phenom Bucewicz has rolled to a 16-5 record in singles play.
Chamberlain, C-USA’s Player of the Week last week, has been the most productive Tiger so far with a 17-3 record in singles action.
Memphis travels to play Arkansas-Little Rock today for a 2:00 p.m. match.
