Men's Tennis begins play at USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Friday

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee men's tennis team is back in action this week starting Friday morning at the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional hosted by Memphis at the Racquet Club of Memphis. The tournament features teams from Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

Junior Ben Davis and sophomore Christoph Lang both are seeded in the singles and doubles draws this weekend. Davis went 2-1 at the ITA All-American Championships two weeks ago in Tulsa, Okla., reaching the final round of the qualifying singles draw. He is the no. 9 seed this weekend in Memphis. Lang is seeded 17^th in the singles draw. Davis and Lang both have byes in the first round and will play their first matches Saturday morning.

Three other Blue Raiders begin singles play on Friday afternoon. Ettore Zito, who won three matches at the ITA All-American Championships in the pre-qualifying singles draw, will take on Joao Camara of Murray State in the first round on Friday. Marlon Brand will face Butler's Austin Woldmoe Friday afternoon. Yannick Born will also face a Butler player, Billy Weldon, on Friday in the first round of singles.

Davis and Lang are also seeded ninth in the doubles draw. They have a bye in the first round and will play their Round of 32 match Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. Born and Brand will play their first round doubles match against David Salazar and Colby Shaw of Lipscomb at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

The singles and doubles main draw winners from each ITA regional will advance to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. The prestigious event, held November 8-11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw.

Blue Raiders' Friday Schedule

Doubles

Marlon Brand/Yannick Born (MT) vs. David Salazar/Colby Shaw (Lipscomb) - 8:30 a.m.

No. 9 Ben Davis/Christoph Lang (MT) vs. East Tennessee State/Murray State - 10:30 a.m.

Singles

Marlon Brand (MT) vs. Austin Woldmoe (Butler) - 2:30 p.m.

Ettore Zito (MT) vs. Joao Camara (Murray State) - 5:30 p.m.

Yannick Born (MT) vs. Billy Weldon (Butler) - 6 p.m.

Friend of the Blue Raiders? Like us on Facebook and become part of the True Blue army today.