The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team has two matches on tap for the weekend. UTC hosts Toledo on Friday, March 6, before traveling to Mercer on Sunday, March 8.
The Mocs take on the Rockets on Friday at 2:30 p.m. (E.S.T.) at the UTC Tennis Center. Toledo brings a 9-6 overall record into the week, with a stop at North Alabama on Thursday. A link for live scoring is available on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Chattanooga enters the weekend with an 11-4 overall record, including a 1-0 mark in Southern Conference action. The Mocs are trying to snap a two-match slide after losses at Troy (4-3) and Tennessee Tech (5-2) last weekend.
Senior
Niklas Gerdes leads the way with a 14-1 singles record at No. 1. He and
Tomas Rodriguez are 11-0 in doubles at No. 2, while Rodriguez is 12-2 at No. 2 singles.
"We are excited to play a team that we haven't seen much of," stated head coach
Chuck Merzbacher when asked about hosting the Rockets from the Mid-American Conference. "Toledo competes in the MAC in a very competitive tennis conference. They are having a solid year so far and we are hoping to take advantage of being at home and outside."
UTC is 4-0 all-time against Toledo, but this is the first time these two teams have met since 1988. All four previous meetings were in Chattanooga.
The match at Mercer is set for 2:30 p.m. in Macon, Ga. The Bears are 3-10 overall, with Sunday being the first SoCon dual on its schedule. Look for a battle in the top spot between Gerdes and Mercer senior Oliver Stuart. Stuart is the reigning SoCon Player of the Year who is 7-4 at No. 1 and ranked No. 74 in the nation.
UTC is 3-8 all-time against Mercer, with the Bears currently riding a seven-match winning streak. The last win for the Mocs in the series was a 6-1 victory in Chattanooga on March 4, 2008. Mercer won a tight match (4-3) in last year's dual on March 24, and a 4-1 victory in the SoCon Tournament on April 18.
"Since I've been here, we have had some really close matches against Mercer but have yet to get them," added Merzbacher. "It will be a challenging match on the road, of course, but I think we can match up with them position-by-position. In recent history, they've been in the SoCon top three steadily."
