MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Mulerider Men's and Women's Tennis are back in action this weekend at the Marty Berryman Memorial Tournament in Plano, Texas hosted by Collin College (Sep. 13 – Sep. 14). This will be the first time Head Coach Greg Owen and his Muleriders will be competing at this tournament since the revival of the program in 2018.
The Mulerider Men and Women kicked off the 2024 fall campaign last weekend in Tyler, Texas and claimed three individual flight titles as well as other great performances.
Sophomores Amelie Gindl and Josie Holderbach both had a great run in the Tyler Invitational's Flight 1 singles draw where they both won two matches before having to play each other in the final. They competed well and completed the match in three sets where Gindl won 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 14-12 and claimed the Flight 1 singles title.
Newcomers Maria Fiacan and Jinsei Tajima had a great first run as a part of the Blue & Gold as both claimed the tournament's Flight 2 Singles titles for women and men. Fiacan topped UT-Tyler's own Allison Schwartz in the final 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 and Tajima closed out the tournament as he won against UT-Tyler's Jordi Garcia in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
Other Muleriders who saw a great start to the fall season include junior Amber Young finishing in 3rd-place in Flight 3 Singles, while Frode Neumann placed 4th in Flight 1 Singles. Young together with her doubles partner Roksana Kokocha had a great run in Flight 3 Doubles where they ended up in 2nd-place. Freshman Lucas Ibanez claimed his first collegiate win by taking care of business against Tyler Junior College's Ouga Miyazaki 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
Competing in Flight 1 Singles for the Mulerider Women this weekend are Josie Holderbach, Amelie Gindl, and Maria Fiacan and for the Mulerider Men we find Mathys Pinoit and Tim Fischer in the Flight 1 Singles bracket.
In Flight 2 Singles Women's bracket we find the duo of sophomore Roksana Kokocha and newcomer Camila Corrales. For the Mulerider Men in Flight 2 Singles it is Frode Neumann and last weekend's Flight 2 Singles title holder Jinsei Tajima that will be competing.
The trio of upperclassmen Honoka Yoshimura, Inna Serpukhova and Young will be competing in the tournament's Flight 3 Singles for the women, and in Flight 3 Singles for the men we find the two newcomers Uwe Diehl and Ibanez. William Von Pongracz will be competing in Flight 4 Singles.
For the women's doubles flights we find the duo of Gindl/Holderbach in Flight 1, Yoshimura/ Fiacan in Flight 2, Corrales/Young and Kokocha/Serpukhova in Flight 3.
For the men's doubles Flights we find Fischer/Pinoit in Flight 1, Tajima/Diehl in Flight 2, and Neumann/Von Pongracz in Flight 3.
Other teams competing in the Marty Berryman Memorial Tournament are Ouachita Baptist, Texas A&M Texarkana, Texas Wesleyan, Collin College, University of Texas at Dallas, Weatherford College and Southeastern Oklahoma.
The Mulerider Tennis squad are looking to improve as they compete on Friday (Sep.13) and Saturday (Sep. 14) down in Plano, Texas.
