The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team hosts Jacksonville State and North Alabama at the Hixson Racquet Club this weekend. The Mocs will face the Gamecocks at 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on Saturday, Feb. 2 and UNA at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 3. Both matches will be held at the Hixson Racquet Club.
Admission to all UTC men's tennis home matches is always free. Live scoring will be available for both contests with links located on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.
The Mocs are led by three-time All-Southern Conference seniorRoberto Vieira (Bedfordview, South Africa), who is among seven seniors on the roster. Vieira plays the top spot and is still looking for his first singles win in three matches this spring. He teams with fellow seniorChris Smith (Johnson City, Tenn.) at No. 1 doubles where the pair is 2-0 in the spring.
Smith plays primarily the No. 2 slot and is also looking for his first singles win. SeniorManuel Barroetavena (Buenos Aires, Argentina) is 3-0 at No. 3 and leads the squad with a 10-5 overall singles record. He and fellow seniorJackson Tresnan (Apopka, Fla.) are 2-0 as a doubles tandem in dual matches.
SophomorePavels Grigorjevs (Riga, Latvia) is going for his first win of the spring this weekend and will likely hold the No. 4 position. FreshmanLuke Saunders (Halifax, Nova Scotia) is 3-0 in duals while Tresnan holds a 2-0 mark at No. 6.
The Mocs have won two-straight against the Gamecocks. UTC posted a 5-2 victory at the Champions Club on March 1 in last year's meeting. Vieira, Barroetavena, Tresnan and Grigorjevs all won in singles action in the previous meeting.
UTC also swept North Alabama 7-0 on Feb. 18, 2012. Ten different Mocs saw the court and posted wins in the match with the Lions.
Head coachCarlos Garcia is in his 12th season at UTC, posting a 130-138 overall record. UTC has increased its win total in each of the last three seasons. The 14-9 mark in 2012 was the best record for the program since 2007.
The Mocs also set a program record with a 3.46 team grade-point-average in the fall. All nine members of the team made the Athletics Director's Honor Roll with a 3.0+ semester g.p.a., while seven made the Dean's List.