No. 11 Midwestern State (9-4) vs. No. 27 St. Mary's (8-8)
Saturday, Apr. 2, 2016 | 9 a.m.
Arlington Tennis Center | Arlington, Texas

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – No. 11 Midwestern State will look for its fourth-straight victory and fourth win over a top-50 program this season when the Mustangs square off against 27th-ranked St. Mary's (Texas) Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Arlington Tennis Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State wrapped up its Colorado road swing with a pair of a 9-0 sweeps last Friday over Colorado State-Pueblo and NCAA Division III Colorado College at the Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex
– The Mustangs spent the entire spring break week in Colorado, playing three matches in Denver before making the trip down to Pueblo
– MSU suffered a 7-2 loss to No. 7 Saint Leo (Fla.) and a 9-0 defeat to Hawaii Pacific before closing out its Denver stay with a 9-0 victory over Metro State
 
MUSTANGS CLIMB TO PROGRAM-BEST 11TH IN ORACLE/ITA NATIONAL POLL
– Midwestern State continued to rewrite the program record books last week when the Mustangs earned their highest team ranking in school history at No. 11 in the Oracle/ITA Men's Division II National Poll, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association
– 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 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 9-4 record this season, having won its last three matches
– Senior Kyle Davidson is 5-5 on the season with a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents at the No. 1 position to earn a No. 44 ranking in the national singles rankings
– Davidson and junior Ramon Toyos, who sports a 7-5 record as the No. 2 singles player for MSU, pair up as the 19th-ranked doubles team in the country with a 9-4 record at the top position this season
– Junior Chris Norrie leads the Mustangs in singles wins with a 9-3 mark, appearing at the middle and bottom of the lineup this season
– Freshman Dillon Pineda is also off to a strong start for the Maroon and Gold, compiling an 8-3 record at Nos. 5 and 6
– In doubles, Pineda and senior Zack Santagate have posted a 9-3 slate as the No. 2 doubles team while Norrie and freshman Radu Popa are 9-4 at No. 3
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
– St. Mary's is ranked 27th in the Oracle/ITA Division II national rankings, coming in with an 8-8 record on the season after winning six of its last seven matches
– STMU will face Dallas Baptist in a 2 p.m. match Friday at the Arlington Tennis Center before taking on the Mustangs
– The Rattlers have three wins over nationally-ranked opponents this season in No. 42 East Central (5-4), No. 34 Holy Names (5-4) and No. 28 Western New Mexico (5-4)
– Michael Maciel is 8-6 in dual play this season, ranking 48th in the national singles rankings
– Adam Dockery (12th) and Jose Antelo (13th) both rank in the top 20 in the South Central Region rankings with Dockery sporting a 7-7 dual record and Antelo posting a 10-3 mark this season
– Dockery also teams up with Brien Galon for the 22nd-ranked doubles pair in the country with a 6-7 record on the season
– Lisa Dausin is in her fifth season with the St. Mary's men's tennis program, leading the Rattlers to a 49-52 record (.485)
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State carries a perfect 12-0 mark against St. Mary's in the all-time series dating back to 2001
– This will be the sixth-straight season the two teams have squared off against each other with the Mustangs coming away with a 9-0 sweep over the Rattlers last season in Wichita Falls
– The Mustangs are 6-0 against St. Mary's in neutral site matchups, also facing the Rattlers in Arlington back on Mar. 29, 2014, in a 6-3 win for MSU
 
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 tied for seventh on the all-times wins list at Midwestern State, entering the weekend with a career record of 108-61 (.639)
– 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), Davidson and Victor Vidal (108), 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 92-43 mark (.681) with the women for a combined 177-83 (.681)
– Since 1997-98, Linn has compiled a 416-262 (.614) career record in 15 seasons as a men's head coach (227-150, .602) and 12 seasons as a women's coach (189-112, .628), 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 returns home next Friday with matches against Collin College (Texas) and Seward County (Kan.) beginning at 10 a.m. at the MSU Tennis Center