No. 12 Midwestern State vs. No. 13 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
Thursday, Mar. 3, 2016 | 11 a.m.
MSU Tennis Center | Wichita Falls, Texas

No. 12 Midwestern State vs. Tyler Junior College
Friday, Mar. 4, 2016 | 2 p.m.
MSU Tennis Center | Wichita Falls, Texas

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – After a month break from competition, Midwestern State men's tennis returns to action Thursday and Friday to host No. 13 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) and Tyler Junior College at the MSU Tennis Center.
 
The Mustangs take part in a top-15 showdown Thursday at 11 a.m. against the 13th-ranked Tigers before playing host to the NJCAA No. 3 team in Tyler Junior College on Friday at 2 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State came away with a 6-3 road victory over No. 42 East Central to open the 2016 season back on Feb. 6
– The Mustangs took control early on, winning two of three doubles matches before taking wins at the top of the singles lineup from 27th-ranked Kyle Davidson and No. 39 Ramon Toyos for a 4-1 advantage
– The Tigers claimed wins at Nos. 3 and 4 singles before the Mustangs responded with wins at 5 and 6 from Chris Norrie and Dillon Pineda to earn the victory

A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State returns three of its top four singles players from 2015 in senior Kyle Davidson and juniors Ramon Toyos and Chris Norrie
– Davidson is the top returner and will look to lead the Mustangs back to the championship site in his final campaign after totaling a 16-5 record, primarily at No. 2 singles, to finish the 2015 season No. 33 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings
– Davidson also compiled a 16-7 mark at No. 1 and 2 doubles with senior Zack Santagate and former Mustang Kacper Boborykin
– Toyos returns following a 17-5 dual record, mostly at the No. 3 position, while ending the season ranked No. 25 in doubles with former Mustang Tomas Grejtak after a 15-4 record together
– Norrie totaled a 16-6 singles mark including a 9-5 record at No. 4 while going 11-6 in doubles play at No. 3
– Santagate posted a 13-10 doubles record last season, recording a 7-6 mark with Davidson at No. 1 while also competing with Norrie at No. 3 for a 6-3 record
– The Mustangs also bring back sophomores Daniel Gallivoda and Tanner Pearson to this season's lineup, who each saw time on the court during the fall
– MSU welcomes four freshmen to complete the 2016 squad in Dylan Hall (Hastings, Barbados), Benjamin Neander (Stockholm, Sweden), Dillon Pineda (Allen, Texas) and Radu Popa (Galati, Romania)
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
– Ouachita Baptist is 6-0 on the season with a pair of 5-4 wins over top-40 teams in No. 35 St. Mary's (Texas) and No. 27 Southwest Baptist (Mo.)
– Vitor Oliveira is ranked 28th nationally in singles play, coming in at 4-2 in dual play this season
– Oliveira joins Luis Chab in creating the 29th-ranked doubles team in the country
– The duo is 3-0 in dual matches including a 9-7 win over Southwest Baptist's No. 30 team in Sherif Abohabaga and Christian Blodig
– Head coach Craig Ward is in his 27th season with the Tigers
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Ouachita Baptist carries a 10-1 record against Midwestern State with the Mustangs earning a 6-3 win over the Tigers last season in Wichita Falls
 
SCOUTING THE APACHES
– Tyler Junior College enters with a 9-2 record on the season and 3-0 mark against NCAA Division II opponents
– The Apaches sport five players ranked in the top 50, led by No. 1 Ferran Calvo with a 7-3 record this spring
– Ryan Brough also cracks the top 10 in the national rankings at No. 6
– Calvo and Enrique Pardo combine to form the No. 2 doubles team in the country with a 10-0 record in dual play
– Brough and Logan Powell are also ranked in the top 10 at nine with a 6-1 mark
– Head coach Dash Connell is in his fifth season leading the TJC men's tennis program
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State is 2-3 in the all-time series against Tyler Junior College
– The Apaches took the lead in the series by recording a 7-2 win in Tyler last season
– The Mustangs are 2-1 against TJC in Wichita Falls, having won the last two matches in 2013 and 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 of the South Central Region rankings released on Feb. 17, coming in front of No. 15 Cameron, No. 22 St. Edward's (Texas), No. 28 Western New Mexico, and No. 35 Newman (Kan.)

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 a 79-36 record (.687) with the men's team while recording an 84-40 mark (.677) with the women for a combined 163-76 (.682)
– Since 1997-98, Linn has compiled a 402-255 (.612) career record in 15 seasons as a men's head coach (221-146, .602) and 12 seasons as a women's coach (181-109, .624), 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 will travel to Odessa next week for a pair of matches against New Mexico Military Institute and host Texas-Permian Basin in a Friday doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m.