No. 12 Midwestern State vs. No. 7 Saint Leo
Sunday, Mar. 20, 2016 | 3 p.m.
Regency Athletic Complex | Denver, Colo. 

No. 12 Midwestern State vs. No. 2 Hawaii Pacific
Monday, Mar. 21, 2016 | 10 a.m.
Regency Athletic Complex | Denver, Colo. 

No. 12 Midwestern State vs. Metro State
Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2016 | 3 p.m.
Regency Athletic Complex | Denver, Colo. 


WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The 12th-ranked Midwestern State men's tennis team begins a busy spring break week starting Sunday in Colorado with five matches slated to take place for the Mustangs in the Centennial State.
 
The Mustangs start off Sunday with a 3 p.m. (CT) match against No. 7 Saint Leo (Fla.) at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver before facing No. 2 Hawaii Pacific on Monday at 10 a.m. Midwestern State wraps up its time in Denver on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against host and in-region foe Metro State. MSU will also take on NCAA Division III Colorado College and Colorado State-Pueblo in a pair of road matches next Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State went 1-1 last week with a 5-4 home win over No. 29 Southwest Baptist (Mo.) and a 7-0 neutral site loss to NCAA Division I Dartmouth in Dallas
– The Mustangs rallied for a nail-biting win over the Bearcats Wednesday with freshman Dillon Pineda and junior Chris Norrie earning wins at the bottom of the lineup to help MSU come away with the victory
– Midwestern took full control early on by sweeping doubles play before SBU countered with three straight-set wins in singles and a three-set victory on court two to take a 4-3 advantage
– Pineda pulled out a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win at No. 6 singles before Norrie clinched the victory at No. 5 with a 6-3, 6-4 win
– Against the 35th-ranked Big Green, Norrie and freshman Radu Popa tallied the lone win for the Mustangs on the day with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles
 
DAVIDSON EARNS 100TH CAREER WIN
– Senior Kyle Davidson became the 10th Mustang in MSU men's tennis history to reach the 100-win plateau following a doubles win over Texas-Permian Basin on Mar. 11
– Davidson enters the week with a career record of 103-57 to rank eighth on the all-time wins list
– Jason Peters is the MSU all-time wins leader at 144 victories from 1998-2001 and is followed by Michael Mills (137), Brett Emerson (133), Zac Dillard (131), Ryan Gillen (127), Brian Holcomb (117), Victor Vidal (108), Davidson (103), Kacper Boborykin (102) and Charles van Swelm (101)
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State is 6-2 on the season and undefeated against NCAA Division II opponents at 5-0
– Kyle Davidson is ranked 27th nationally and second in the South Central Region in singles this season, coming in with a 3-3 mark at the top position with a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents
– Junior Ramon Toyos ranks 39th in the country and fifth in the region sporting a 5-3 dual match record
– Freshmen Radu Popa (16th) and Dylan Hall (19th) also rank in the top 20 in the region with Popa recording a 3-4 dual play record and Hall sitting at 4-4 on the season
– Norrie and Pineda tie Toyos with five singles wins on the year to lead the Mustangs with Pineda carrying a 5-1 record and Norrie holding a 5-2 mark this season
– Davidson and Toyos, ranked 20th in the nation and second in the region, are 6-2 at No. 1 doubles on the year while Pineda and senior Zack Santagate are sixth in the region with a 5-2 record
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
– Saint Leo is ranked seventh in the Oracle/ITA Division II rankings with a perfect 11-0 record and seven wins over top-25 teams this season
– Alberto Barroso-Campos ranks third nationally with a 10-0 record and a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents at No. 1 singles
– Alex Theiler, ranked 13th in the country, has split time between No. 2 and 3 singles this season, for a 7-2 dual play record
– Egor Panyushkin ranks 19th in singles, also splitting time between courts two and three, with an 8-1 record
– Barroso-Campos and Theiler also team up as the sixth-ranked doubles duo in the nation with an unblemished 10-0 mark
– Chris Frusci is in his second season leading the SLU tennis programs, holding a 27-6 mark with the men's team
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State and Saint Leo met for the first time in program history last season with the Lions posting an 8-1 win in Pensacola, Fla.
 
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
– Hawaii Pacific is a perfect 9-0 this season and currently ranked No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA Division II team rankings
– Thibaud Berland leads the Sharks with a 7-0 dual record at No. 1 singles to rank sixth nationally
– Berland is joined in the top 10 by Jaume Martinez-Vich at No. 8 with an 8-1 singles record this season
– Hendrik Bode is in his fifth season with the Sharks, carrying a 90-11 record at HPU
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Hawaii Pacific earned a 9-0 sweep over Midwestern State in the lone meeting between the two programs back on Mar. 18, 2014 in Las Vegas
 
SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
– Metro State enters the week with a 5-7 season record after being swept in its last three matches
– Joey Tcherne ranks 41st nationally following an 8-3 fall campaign and is 4-2 in dual matches this season
– At the bottom of the lineup, Calum Hayes ties Tcherne in wins with a 4-4 record
– Tcherne and Josh Graetz have compiled a 4-1 record in doubles to lead the Roadrunners  
– Former Midwestern State assistant coach Daniel Hangstefer is in his third season leading the Metro State tennis programs, carrying a 31-28 record with the men's team
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State sports a perfect 7-0 record against Metro State since beginning the series with the Roadrunners back in 2000
– The two teams have met just twice since 2010 with the Mustangs earning a 9-0 sweep in the lone meeting in Denver on Mar. 17, 2010 and a second sweep in Wichita Falls on Feb. 21, 2014
 
MUSTANGS CLIMB TO PROGRAM-BEST 12TH IN ORACLE/ITA NATIONAL POLL
– Midwestern State rewrote the program record books on Feb. 24 when the Mustangs earned their highest national ranking in program history at No. 12 in the Oracle/ITA Men's Division II National Poll, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)
– The Mustangs bested their previous program high of 14, which they set at the end of the fall season and at the conclusion of the 2015 season
– Midwestern also remained atop the South Central Region rankings released on Mar. 16, coming in front of Cameron, St. Mary's, Western New Mexico and St. Edward's to round out the top five
 
LINN EARNS WIN NO. 400
– Head coach Scott Linn received a memorable win No. 400 last May when the MSU women's tennis team upset No. 12 California (Pa.) in the NCAA Sweet 16
– Linn enters his sixth season leading the MSU men's and women's tennis programs, guiding the Mustangs to a combined seven postseason appearances since taking over the programs in 2010-11
– Linn has posted an 84-38 record (.689) with the men's team while recording an 90-41 mark (.687) with the women for a combined 174-79 (.688)
– Since 1997-98, Linn has compiled a 413-258 (.615) career record in 15 seasons as a men's head coach (226-148, .604) and 12 seasons as a women's coach (187-110, .630), averaging close to 15 wins a season
– Prior to MSU, Linn served head coaching stints at Science & Arts. (Okla.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Florida Southern while serving as a men's assistant coach at his alma mater, East Central (Okla.), and Indiana
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State wraps up its Colorado road trip next Saturday with matches at NCAA Division III Colorado College and in-region foe Colorado State-Pueblo