MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Mulerider Tennis teams will host three schools at the start of next week to open home play at the Live Oak Tennis Courts. Southern Arkansas will play host to the University of West Alabama and Mississippi College on Sunday before finishing out the three-match series on Monday against UT Tyler.
The Muleriders have seen Ben Schneider at lines 1 and 6, Mathieu Wierniezky at No. 2, Ole Valkyser at No. 3 and 1, Tim Fischer at No. 4, Lluc Pasqual at No. 5 and 3 and Gabriel Breitenmoser at line 6 and 5. Schneider and Jans have teamed up to compete in the No. 1 doubles spot for the Muleriders while the duo of Wierniezky and Breitenmoser have played at No. 2 and Valkyser and Fischer have taken over the No. 3 spot.
Sarah Roy is playing at line 1 for the women with Lena Milosevic taking over duties at No. 2, Annika Berrendorf playing at No. 3, Kalley Smith playing at line four, Greta Wallin at line five and Inna Serpukhova at No. 6. Smith and Wallin are teaming up as the Mulerider's No. 1 doubles team with Milosevic and Berrendorf at No.2 and Roy and Serpukhova at No. 3.
The women won their most recent match on February 11 against Henderson State (6-1) while the men dropped their February 6 match to Southwest Baptist (2-5).
MATCH INFORMATION
Site: Live Oak Tennis Court
Live Video
Live Scoring
Mulerider Notes
Women
*The women post a 2-2 overall record.
*The team took two losses to Division I Louisiana Tech in between wins over Delta State and Henderson State.
*The Mulerider Women return to action on their home court for the first time in 312 days.
*Lena Milosevic earned the Great American Conference's most recent Player of the Week accolade.
*Roy, Milosevic, Berrendorf, Wallin and Serpukhova are undefeated in singles play against DII programs.
*The doubles team of Milosevic and Berrendorf have also yet to lose to DII competitors.
*Greta Wallin was on track to record the team's solo singles win over LA Tech in the second match, but her set was left unfinished.
*Sunday will serve as the first matchup between Mississippi College and Southern Arkansas since the program's comeback in 2018-19.
*The Muleriders post a 1-3 record versus West Alabama (1-1 home) with the most recent being a 0-4 shutout on UWA's home court in March 2022.
*SAU is 2-1 against UT Tyler since 2019, winning 7-0 in consecutive years in Magnolia and losing 2-4 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Men
*The ITA released DII rankings on Friday, February 17 with the Muleriders ranked 25th.
*Southern Arkansas posts a 1-1 record after a win over Delta State and Loss to Southwest Baptist.
*Valkyser and Wierniezky remain undefeated in singles play, recording wins at lines 2 and 3.
*The men are 21-1 all time on their home court since the program's return with the solo loss coming at the hands of Sunday's opponent- West Alabama.
*SAU has won their last nine straight at home with their most recent being against Northwest Missouri in the Central Region Tournament.
*Despite suffering a loss in Magnolia in 2021, SAU and UWA's most recent matchup in March of '22 concluded in favor of the Muleriders.
*Southern Arkansas won their solo match against Mississippi College in February 2020 in a 4-3 decision at a neutral site.
*SAU is 3-0 against UT Tyler, recording wins of 4-1, 5-2 and 7-0 in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
West Alabama Notes
*West Alabama's women are ranked #12.
*The men are posting a 2-2 record with their most recent win coming on Friday, February 17 against Ouachita.
*The women are 3-0 but lost two exhibition matches to South Alabama and Georgia Gwinnett to start their season.
*West Alabama's Haina Franco and Ming Deewajee are undefeated at No.1 doubles for the women.
Mississippi College Notes
*The Mississippi College Men and Women are both 1-0 after defeating Division I Jackson State University.
*The women won five of six singles courts and won at doubles No. 1 and No. 2.
*The MC men won at singles No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 and won at doubles No. 1 and No. 3.
UT Tyler Notes
*The UT Tyler women are 1-2 overall with losses to Northwest Missouri and Central Oklahoma and a win over Harding.
*The women won at all three doubles lines against Harding on Friday, February 17.
The men are ranked #19.
*The men are 1-1 with a win over Northwest MO and loss to Harding.
