After falling to the University of South Florida Bulls over the weekend, the Memphis Tigers men’s tennis team is now playing the waiting game to see if they will receive a NCAA Tournament bid for the fourth consecutive year.
In their last chance to make an impression before the selection show, the Tigers lost to the no. 21 ranked and now two-time American Athletic Conference champion Bulls 4-1 in the semifinals of the AAC Championship on Saturday, gaining the solo point only through a doubles victory.
The doubles victory, started with the no. 61 ranked Memphis duo freshman Kai Lemke and senior Connor Glennon defeating the no. 31 ranked USF pair of Oliver Pramming and Justin Roberts, 6-4.
USF would show why they are the no. 21 ranked tennis team in the country by evening the score in the doubles contest shortly after. USF pair Roberto Cid and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz defeated Tiger pair Patrick Mayer and Ryan Peniston by a score of 7-5 to set up a deciding third set.
Memphis duo Andrew Watson and Louis Asser would give the Tigers the 2-1 victory and the point beating USF’s Sasha Gozun and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy, 7-5.
Tiger men’s tennis coach Paul Goebel was pleased with the doubles win.
"Best doubles point we played all year. Every court was really high-level doubles and it was great to see us put it all together," Goebel said.
One reason the Tigers may have got off to such a good start Saturday was because they handled the match moving up an hour early due to the weather better than the Bulls. Memphis has dealt with it so often in the season in terms of weather-related delays, and it paid off in the early part of the match.
Momentum coming into the match played a key part in the Tigers early success. Coming into the game, Memphis won nine of its last 10 games, including a 4-2 AAC Tournament quarterfinal victory over the no. 44 SMU Mustangs.
However, USF eventually figured Memphis out and played like the defending AAC Champions. The Bulls won four straight single sets to advance to the AAC Title game for the second consecutive season.
"I thought we competed hard in every match,” Goebel said. “We played very well. They just served a little better than we did, especially in big situations. It was tough playing them a week ago and then playing them again, but we showed improvement and battled to the end. But I have to give credit to USF and their coaching because they played really aggressive on every match."
Regardless of the defeat, Goebel said there is a lot to take out from the performance.
"There's really a lot of positives for our team," Goebel said. "I'm excited to get in a high level conference match and go toe-to-toe with them."
The men’s tennis team will ultimately learn their NCAA Tournament faith on April 28 during the NCAA Selection Show.
Tiger tennis star Connor Glennon in action in the American Athletic Conference Tournament last weekend. Memphis lost to USF in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament on Saturday, 4-1. Photo by Ben Solomon
