Hogs Return Home for Two Top-20 SEC Tilts, Southern Miss

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 39 Arkansas men’s tennis team (11-4, 1-1) returns to Billingsley Tennis Center this weekend to host No. 12 Texas A&M (7-4, 1-0) on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. before a doubleheader on Sunday, Mar. 2 against No. 18 Tennessee (9-4, 0-2) at 12 p.m. and Southern Miss (1-5) at 5 p.m.

The Razorbacks split their first two SEC matches last weekend versus No. 51 Ole Miss and then-No. 22 Oklahoma. In the SEC home opener against the Rebels, the Hogs took the doubles point with wins from Božo Barun/Benni Emesz and Connor Smillie/Jakub Vrba. Arkansas grabbed a 3-0 lead in the match after singles victories from Arthur Bellegy and No. 102 Vrba. The Razorbacks secured the match on court one as Barun earned his fifth clincher this season en route to a 4-3 win over Ole Miss.

Lukas Palovic collected the only point for the Hogs against the Sooners, defeating Montsi in straight sets at the No. 2 position for his team-leading ninth singles victory this spring.

The No. 12 Aggies have started the year 7-4 and opened SEC play with a 4-1 win over No. 67 LSU before splitting a doubleheader against No. 15 Florida State and Lamar. Texas A&M is led by No. 37 JC Roddick and No. 42 Theo Papamalamis, who have played on courts one and two this season. Luke Casper and Tiago Pires also highlight the Aggie singles lineup, with Pires tied for the team lead with six dual victories this spring. The duo of No. 34 Papamalamis and Togan Tokac have posted four doubles wins this year and hold a 4-1 record overall at the No. 1 position.

No. 18 Tennessee is coming off an 0-2 weekend versus No. 26 Mississippi State and No. 54 Georgia. The Vols will face No. 26 Oklahoma on Friday ahead of its matchup with Arkansas on Sunday. Tennessee’s singles lineup features three ranked players in No. 16 Shunsuke Mitsui, No. 31 Alex Kotzen and No. 95 Alejandro Moreno. The Vols lineup also features Jose Garcia, who has recorded eight victories this spring on courts three through five. In doubles, the tandem of No. 26 Kotzen and Moreno head the lineup with a 6-1 overall record, including a 5-1 mark at the No. 1 position. The pairing of Alan Jesudason and Mitsui are a perfect 4-0 in dual matches this season.

The Golden Eagles are 1-5 this year and most recently won its first match of the spring on Feb. 16 against Nicholls State. Southern Miss will face Northern Alabama on Thursday before its match versus the Razorbacks on Sunday afternoon. Olle Noltorp leads the Golden Eagles with three dual singles victories this season while competing on the top three courts. The team features four additional players with at least one win this year. The duos of Charlie Brady/Ritabrata Sarkar and Pasawee Reansuwong/Ricards Spaks have each picked up one doubles victory this spring.

Live coverage of the Tennessee match will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Admission is free, live stats & video links for all matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.