Men’s Tennis Splits for Two Weekend Events

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – All members of the Middle Tennessee men's tennis team will be in action this weekend, as the Blue Raiders host the Dick LaLance Showdown, while the rest of the squad will compete in the ITA All-American.

The Adams Tennis Complex will play host to the Showdown on Sept. 30-Oct. 2. MT will play Belmont at 2 p.m. Friday, Memphis at 10 a.m. Saturday, and Lipscomb at 10 a.m. Sunday. There will be two doubles matches and four singles matches per day.

Nicolas Buitrago Machado, Luis Morillo Diaz, Jacob Pugh and Michael Apple will stay in Murfreesboro to play in their second event of the fall. Morillo swept his singles matches in the Dale Short Shootout last weekend, while Pugh won twice in singles. The two sophomores paired up to earn an 8-6 victory over Chattanooga in doubles.

"We've taken more of an individual approach, looking at their matches last weekend as well as practices this week to make small adjustments to their game," assistant coach Daniel Leitner said of the guys participating in the Showdown. "There will definitely be some challenging matches for our guys this weekend."

The Bruins ended the 2016 dual match season with a record of 10-11, including a 5-4 mark in the OVC. Cedric Dujacquier led Belmont in singles wins last season with 17, and he will return for his senior season. Belmont participated in the Southern Intercollegiate last weekend, hosted by Georgia, where doubles duo Zak Khan and Bruno Russo advanced to the Round of 16.

Memphis will travel to Murfreesboro with one fall event already under its belt, as the Tigers participated in the Alabama Four-in-the-Fall Invitational. Memphis ended last season ranked No. 40 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Their squad will also split between the Showdown and the ITA All-American.

Also opening its fall at the Southern Intercollegiate was Lipscomb. The Bisons' 2016 dual match season concluded in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Championships, as USC Upstate took a 4-1 victory. Lipscomb returns six from last year's team.

Dick LaLance coached at MT for 11 seasons, holding a record of 117-65. Along with having the second most wins in program history, LaLance owns the best winning percentage of any coach in Middle Tennessee men's tennis history (.643). He was named Ohio Valley Coach of the Year when he led the Blue Raiders to OVC Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 1979.

Representing the Blue Raiders at the ITA All-American on Oct. 1-10 will be Miguel Negre Fernandez, Tom Moonen, Max Rauch, Ayed Zatar Cordero, Gonzalo Morell Raschiatore and Gian Issa. For Moonen and Rauch, this will be their second competition of the fall.

"This a very deep draw, so there's a chance they'll get to play some very good competition right from the first match," Leitner added. "It'll be a great test for them to see if they can step up to the level of competition."

This marks the 12th straight year that the University of Tulsa will serve as the official tournament host, and most of the action during the two-week event will take place on the courts of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The ITA Men's All-American event page will include draw updates, links to scoring updates, live streaming and photo galleries, in addition to daily main draw recaps. FloTennis will live stream up to four courts each day of the main draw at www.flotennis.com. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter by following @ITA_Tennis and using the hashtag #TulsaITA.

Dick LaLance Showdown Live Stats

ITA All-American Tournament Homepage

Live Stream of ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying and Qualifying

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Michael Apple

Nicolas Buitrago Machado

Gian Issa

Tom Moonen

Gonzalo Morell Raschiatore

Luis Morillo Diaz

Miguel Negre Fernandez

Jacob Pugh

Max Rauch

Ayed Zatar Cordero

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