CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga Mocs men's and women's tennis team eyes a Southern Conference-filled weekend which includes the league home openers for both programs on Friday at the UTC Tennis Center.
This weekend's action sees the men's program host ETSU on Friday at 11 a.m. ET and Mercer on Sunday morning with the same 11 a.m. ET start time. The women's team will play host to Samford on Friday at 3 p.m. ET before traveling to Wofford on Sunday for a 2 p.m. ET matchup against the Terriers.
The first 50 fans in attendance on Friday for both the men's match against ETSU and women's match against Samford will receive FREE UTC bandanas in reflection of the team's weekly "Bandana Thursday" practice tradition. In addition, the first 50 at each match will receive FREE popcorn.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, March 24
M: Chattanooga vs. ETSU ∙ 11AM ET ∙
Live Stats (UTC Tennis Center)
W: Chattanooga vs. Samford ∙ 3PM ET ∙
Live Stats (UTC Tennis Center)
Sunday, March 26
M: Chattanooga vs. Mercer ∙ 11AM ET ∙
Live Stats (UTC Tennis Center)
W: Chattanooga at Wofford ∙ 2PM ET ∙
Live Stats (Spartanburg, S.C.)
MATCH PREVIEW - MEN
The Chattanooga (11-4, 1-0 SoCon) men's team gets set to host in-state rival ETSU (7-9, 3-1 SoCon) on Friday before welcoming Mercer (7-10, 1-0 SoCon) on Sunday. The Bucs are winners of seven of its last eight matches including a 5-2 win over New Mexico last Sunday while the Bears are a perfect 1-0 inside league play which included a victory over… ETSU.
"This is an exciting weekend of SoCon Tennis with defending champion ETSU coming in hot after a big win over New Mexico. They'll be tough for sure," said head coach
Chuck Merzbacher, who picked up his 500
th career victory on Sunday at The Citadel.
"Mercer is the team that knocked off ETSU after a 54-match SoCon win streak and they are really playing well. The guys are ready and we are looking forward to the battles at home."
The Mocs hold a 14-30 all-time record against the rival Bucs with the team from Johnson City winning the last 14 meetings. UTC is 4-10 against Mercer all-time after the team snapped a nine-match losing streak to the Bears with a 5-2 victory in Macon last season.
MATCH PREVIEW - WOMEN
Chattanooga (11-4, 0-1 SoCon) is ready to host league-foe Samford (8-4, 0-0 SoCon) on Friday afternoon before making the trip to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford (10-5, 1-0 SoCon) on Sunday. Both opponents enter the weekend with momentum as the Bulldogs have won their last three while the Terriers have posted 10 wins over its last 11 matches.
"The team is excited to host a home conference match since we have been on the road for a while," said head coach
Chad Camper.
"Our depth has really come through and we will need that as we continue through the SoCon schedule this season."
The Mocs are coming off a pair of 5-2 losses last week on the road at Mercer in the league opener on Saturday and at ACC-member Clemson on Sunday. UTC is 17-19 all-time against Samford and will look to snap a six-game skid to the Bulldogs while the team holds a 23-5 all-time mark against Wofford including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings.
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