No. 11 Midwestern State (7-4) at Colorado State-Pueblo (4-12)
Friday, Mar. 25, 2016 | 12:30 p.m. (CT)
Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex | Pueblo, Colo.

No. 11 Midwestern State (7-4) vs. Colorado College (6-7)
Friday, Mar. 25, 2016 | 4:30 p.m. (CT)
Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex | Pueblo, Colo.


WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The 11th-ranked Midwestern State men's tennis team looks to close out its five-match Colorado road swing with a pair of wins Friday as the Mustangs take on Colorado State-Pueblo and NCAA Division III Colorado College at the Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex.
 
The Mustangs will begin Friday against CSU-Pueblo at 12:30 p.m. (CT) before taking on Colorado College at 4:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State posted a 1-2 mark earlier this week at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver with a win over host Metro State and losses to then-No. 7 Saint Leo (Fla.) and No. 2 Hawaii Pacific
– MSU's losing streak reached three matches following a 7-2 defeat to SLU and a 9-0 loss to HPU before the Mustangs snapped their skid with a 9-0 sweep over in-region foe Metro State
 
MUSTANGS CLIMB TO PROGRAM-BEST 11TH IN ORACLE/ITA NATIONAL POLL
– Midwestern State continued to rewrite the program record books Wednesday when the Mustangs earned their highest team ranking in school history at No. 11 in the Oracle/ITA Men's Division II National Poll 
– The Mustangs moved up one spot after coming in 12th in the first set of spring rankings on Feb. 24, besting 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 Mar. 16, coming in front of No. 12 Cameron, No. 27 St. Mary's, No. 28 Western New Mexico and No. 33 St. Edward's
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State comes into the weekend with a 7-4 record on the season
– Senior Kyle Davidson is 4-5 with a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents at the No. 1 position this season to earn a No. 44 ranking in the national singles rankings
– Davidson and junior Ramon Toyos, who sports a 6-5 record as the No. 2 singles player for MSU, pair up as the 19th-ranked doubles team in the country with a 7-4 record at the top position
– Junior Chris Norrie leads the Mustangs in singles wins with a 7-3 record, appearing at Nos. 3-5 this season
– Freshman Dillon Pineda is also off to a strong start for the Maroon and Gold, compiling a 6-3 mark at Nos. 5 and 6
– In doubles, Pineda and senior Zack Santagate have posted a 7-3 record as the No. 2 doubles team while Norrie and freshman Radu Popa are 7-4 at No. 3
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
– Colorado State-Pueblo enters the weekend with a 4-12 record on the season and 3-3 mark at home
– The ThunderWolves have dropped their last two matches to nationally-ranked St. Mary's (8-1) and Cameron (5-0)
– Sophomore Siggy Menzel has played at No. 1 singles for the ThunderWolves this season while Marcelo Chaparro has a team-best eight singles wins on the year, appearing mostly on court four
– In doubles, Menzel and sophomore David Mould have compiled a 3-6 record at No. 1
– Head coach Mark Schleif is 17-41 in his third season with the ThunderWolves
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State holds a 4-1 all-time record against Colorado State-Pueblo and comes in with a four-match win streak
– The two teams last met during the 2010 season with the Mustangs recording a 9-0 sweep over the ThunderWolves in Lawton, Okla.
– The Mustangs are 1-0 on the road against CSU-Pueblo with an 8-1 victory coming in 2004
– The ThunderWolves earned their lone win in the series in the first meeting in 1997 with a 6-3 victory in Wichita Falls
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
– Colorado College comes in with a 6-7 record on the season, having lost its last three matches
– Junior Jason Gutierrez is 5-6 at No. 1 singles this season while freshman Daniel Holland leads the Tigers in dual wins with a 7-6 mark, primarily at the No. 2 position
– Gutierrez and Holland team up as the top doubles pair for Colorado College with a 4-5 record at the No. 1 position 
– Anthony Weber is in his third season as the head men's tennis coach, leading the Tigers to a 20-31 record in that span
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Friday's meeting will be the first between Midwestern State and Colorado College
 
DAVIDSON EARNS 100TH CAREER WIN
– 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 is currently eighth on the all-times wins list at Midwestern State, entering the weekend with a career record of 105-61
– Jason Peters is the MSU all-time wins leader with 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 (105), Kacper Boborykin (102) and Charles van Swelm (101)
 
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 85-40 record (.680) with the men's team while recording an 91-43 mark (.679) with the women for a combined 176-83 (.680)
– Since 1997-98, Linn has compiled a 415-262 (.613) career record in 15 seasons as a men's head coach (227-150, .602) and 12 seasons as a women's coach (188-112, .627), 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 next takes on No. 27 St. Mary's in a neutral site meeting Saturday, April 2 at 8 a.m. at the Kiest Tennis Center in Dallas