Oregon and Cal Poly next on radar for Hogs

Eugene, Ore. — The University of Arkansas men’s tennis team is back in action this weekend to compete in a doubleheader to be held at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Ore. The Hogs’ first match is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. against the Oregon Ducks (8-1) and the second slated to begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday against the Cal Poly Mustangs (0-4). Live coverage will be available at goducks.com during the Arkansas-Oregon match.

The Razorbacks are looking to bounce back after a tough loss on the road to the highly-touted No. 44 Oklahoma Sooners this past weekend in Norman, Okla.

“We got back to work this week,” head coach Robert Cox said. “It is important that we are successful on the road. We had good practice and are ready to get on the road again and prove ourselves.”

The No. 50 Razorbacks are led by No. 62Christopher Nott who has a compiled a 12-7 record at the top singles position. Senior Dmitry Lebedev has 10 wins this season, followed by senior Bradwin Williams, junior Matthew Hogan and sophomore Nikolas Zogaj with eight wins, respectively. Since joining the Hogs mid-season, freshman Gregoire Lehmann has only dropped two matches with a 5-2 record, playing mostly at the No. 4 singles position.

On the top doubles court, the dynamic pairing of Nott and Lebedev cracked the rankings jumping to the No. 29 spot in doubles. The duo’s success continues to be unstoppable with a 7-1 record. The duo’s only loss was to the No. 22-ranked Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala of Texas. Arkansas has won six of eight doubles points this season.

“Our doubles success gives us great confidence going into every match, “ Cox said. “We take pride in our doubles and it shows. ”

Arkansas and Oregon matched up for the first time last year in Fayetteville. The Hogs cruised pasted the Ducks, 6-1. At the No. 4 singles spot, Dmitry Lebedev secured the win with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jose Izquierdo. The Ducks are coming off a strong streak, winning seven consecutive matches and undefeated in doubles.

The Razorbacks’ matchup with Cal Poly will be the first meeting under head coach Justin McGrath, a former Arkansas assistant coach to Cox. Cal Poly will look to rebound after falling 4-3 to No. 23-ranked Arizona this past weekend in Tucson, Ariz.

“Oregon and Cal Poly, both good teams and are coached very well,” Cox said. “I know coach McGrath is preparing for a tough match and they will be ready for us. This is what we need to be successful and is leading to playing a tough SEC schedule.”