No. 41 Razorbacks Set for Final Road Matches of Regular Season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 41 Arkansas men’s tennis team (16-11, 4-8) is set for its final road trip of the regular season as the Razorbacks will face No. 50 Vanderbilt (10-13, 2-10) on Thursday, April 10 at 3:30 p.m. ahead of a doubleheader on Saturday, April 12 against No. 36 Kentucky (14-10, 5-7) at 12 p.m. CT and Xavier (8-11) at 7 p.m. CT.

Last time out, the Hogs shutout LSU 4-0 on Senior Night to end their six-match losing streak in SEC contests. Arkansas took the doubles point following victories from Božo Barun/Benni Emesz and No. 19 Connor Smillie/Jakub Vrba while No. 48 Lukas Palovic, Barun and Emesz collected singles wins to secure the match.

Palovic jumped one spot to No. 48 in the ITA singles rankings after defeating his fifth ranked opponent this spring as Smillie/Vrba also rose one spot to No. 19 in the ITA doubles rankings. Palovic leads the Razorbacks in dual singles victories with 15 while Smillie/Vrba lead with 13 dual doubles wins.

No. 50 Vanderbilt is 10-13 overall and 2-10 in SEC play this year after a 2-0 weekend with victories over No. 53 Ole Miss and Eastern Illinois. The Commodores are headlined by Danil Panarin in the top spot and Pablo Martinez Gomez at the No. 2 position. Vanderbilt is led in singles wins by Henry Ruger, who has 11 victories this dual season while primarily playing on court five. Nathan Cox and Michael Ross hold a 7-8 doubles record together this spring and are ranked No. 40.

No. 36 Kentucky is coming off two 4-0 wins at home against Eastern Illinois on April 8 to improve to 14-10 overall along with a 5-7 record in SEC contests this year. The Wildcats are led by No. 50 Jack Loutit and No. 58 Antoine Ghibaudo, who have mainly played at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions this season and have obtained 23 combined singles victories this spring. No. 93 Jaden Weekes and Matt Rankin have each earned at least 10 dual wins in singles competition this year. In doubles, the tandem of Loutit and Eli Stephenson are ranked No. 18 and have recorded eight victories this season.

Xavier is 8-11 this spring and most recently dropped its match versus DePaul on April 6. Alex Kotarski leads the Musketeers with 11 singles wins this year while primarily playing on court four, while Andrew Spurck has picked up nine dual victories this season. Christian Gonzalez and Kyle Totorica lead Xavier with eight doubles wins this spring.

Live stats & video links for all matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.