TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's tennis team will compete for a chance at the Lone Star Conference men's tennis regular season championship this weekend in a pair of matches against DBU and Midwestern State.
The Patriots have won all five Lone Star Conference matches this spring, and sit in sole possession of first place with a 5-0 record in conference play. UT Tyler can clinch a share of the Lone Star Conference regular season championship with a win in tomorrow's match against DBU, and would win the league title outright with a win on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Midwestern State.
Thursday's match is set to get started at 2 p.m. against DBU and Saturday's match will get started at 10 a.m. against Midwestern State.
FOR ALL THE MARBLES
A pair of wins against DBU and Midwestern State on Thursday and Saturday would give UT Tyler men's tennis the first team Lone Star Conference Championship in school history. Two wins would also give the Patriots a regular season championship and undefeated record in their inaugural year competing in a Lone Star Conference schedule after last year's conference schedule was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Patriots have been dominate throughout their five Lone Star Conference matches this spring, winning their last two contests against UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico by 6-1 margins on the road. UT Tyler defended home court in their first home LSC match in over two years back on Apr. 2-3 with wins over UAFS and #22 Cameron, and will look to complete the 2021 season with a perfect home record this weekend at the Summers Tennis Center.
A LOOK AT THE RANKINGS
UT Tyler received votes as a team for the first time as a Division II program last week in the fourth edition of the 2020-21 Oracle/ITA Rankings while
Egor Shestakov (no. 40) and Jan Lucca Marquadt (no. 42) each received a single ranking in the first Division II singles ranking list of the year. Marquadt and doubles partner
Michael Apple also received a no. 13 national ranking in the doubles in the first edition of the top 25 doubles rankings for Division II as well.
Shestakov has faced off with a total of four players ranked inside the top 50 of the Division II single rankings, and has taken all four of those individuals to a deciding set in each of the matches. Marquadt has faced three ranked opponents, and holds a 3-1 record in Lone Star Conference singles matches.
The Marquadt and Apple doubles team has produced a record of 5-2 in Lone Star Conference play in 2021, and has secured a team point with a win in four out of their five league matches.
