Team preparing for No. 23 BYU
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raider men's tennis team will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas to compete in the HEB Invitational hosted by Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
Middle Tennessee will open play with No. 23 Brigham Young on Friday, March 5 at 9 a.m.
With a win, the Blue Raiders will face winner of TAMCC and DePaul later in the day on Friday. In the event Middle Tennessee loses it face loser of same match also later on Friday. The Blue Raiders defeated DePaul 5-2 earlier this season at DePaul.
"The message to the team this weekend is to step-up and beat teams like BYU. I feel like we had opportunities to beat No. 40 Mississippi State, No. 30 Vanderbilt and No. 34 Northwestern but couldn't finish the job," head coach David McNamara said. "A team like BYU we need to beat and I don't want this to be a would've, could've, should've team. We are very close to taking these matches and we need everyone to step-up and win. We need to not just be in a position to win but we need to win."
The Blue Raiders will also play a match on Saturday, March 6 to round out the tournament against an opponent to be determined later.
Middle Tennessee has been competing in the HEB Invitational since the early 1990s families who housed McNamara as a player still play host to the Blue Raiders today in relationships that have been built over time.
The Blue Raiders have played seven nationally ranked opponents this season and three others who were not ranked when Middle Tennessee played them are now ranked.
Junior John Peers is currently ranked 39th in singles in the ITA Poll released earlier this week after opening the spring season with a 9-2 record, which includes being 3-1 over nationally ranked opponents.
Results from the Blue Raiders' matches at the HEB Invitational will be posted on goblueraiders.com when they become available.
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