Hogs Set To Host Illinois State, MTSU to open Home Slate

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team returns home to Billingsley Tennis Center for the weekend for a pair of matches to open its home slate. The Razorbacks (1-0) face the Illinois State Redbirds (0-0) on Friday, January 19 at 12 p.m. CT and the MTSU Blue Raiders (2-0) on Sunday, January 21 at 12 p.m. CT.

The Hogs opened the spring season with a 7-0 win over Hawai’i on the road last Friday. Newcomers Jared Horwood and Connor Smillie got their first wins as Razorbacks in doubles play, while seniors Melvin Manuel, Alan Sau Franco, and Stefanos Savva in addition to sophomore Gerard Planelles Ripoll all went 2-0 on the day. Sophomores Božo Barun and Benedikt Emesz also picked up singles victories to open the spring season.

Illinois State is coming off a 10-14 season, going 2-3 in Summit League play, and ended last year with a 4-0 loss to No. 23 Northwestern in the regular season. The Redbirds are led by redshirt seniors Nam Pham and Arvid Hjalte, who played all of last season at the top two positions in singles. Senior Emiliano Gonzalez along with sophomores Tin Ostro and Tomas Valencia all earned a win this past fall at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships while consistently playing in the lineup last year. Hjalte and sophomore Adrian Dibildox teamed up to play in the top spot for a majority of last spring in doubles as well as claiming a victory together this past fall.

The Blue Raiders come to Fayetteville off two 7-0 wins last Saturday against Presbyterian and Tennessee State. MTSU saw great success a season ago, going 22-8 overall and winning their fourth-straight C-USA title while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Blue Raiders have obtained two victories from No. 25 Leo Raquin at the No. 1 position, who achieved an outstanding 22-2 record in singles play last spring. In addition, the Blue Raider lineup features No. 47 Marcel Kamrowski, who posted an 18-8 singles record last season. MTSU has also received multiple singles wins from sophomores No. 105 Ondrej Horak and Shu Matsuoka, and last week’s C-USA Athlete of the Week freshman Jakub Kroslak. In doubles, Krosiak and redshirt senior Javier Cueto Ramos earned a victory in the top spot against Presbyterian while Horak leads the team with two doubles wins.

Admission is free, live stats & live video are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.