Men's Tennis Heads to Philly Area for Pair of Matches

Friday, March 17

Villanova, Pa.

2:30 PM Indoor/ 6 PM Outdoor

Xavier University

Villanova

Men's Tennis Heads to Philly Area for Pair of Matches

03.16.23 | Men's Tennis

Musketeers face Villanova Friday, Temple on Saturday

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's tennis (9-4) heads to Philadelphia this weekend for a pair of matches, taking on Villanova on Friday, March 17, set for a 2:30 p.m. start unless the match is forced indoors due to weather. The Musketeers close out the weekend against Temple, playing at UPenn on Saturday, March 18 at 4:00 p.m.

Next weekend, Xavier will host a pair of home matches, facing Dayton on Friday, March 24, and DePaul on Sunday, March 26.

VILLANOVA

VU is 4-8 with wins over Bucknell, Rider, Coppin State and Nichols College.
The Wildcats went 3-15 last season with a 0-3 record against BIG EAST teams during the regular season.
Villanova fell to No. 1 seed St. John's, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.
Xavier took the 6-1 win over VU in Cincinnati last season.

TEMPLE

Temple is 12-2, having won 12 straight headed into the. match with Xavier.
The Owls went 12-10 last season and earned the No. 8 seed in the AAC Tournament.
Temple wrapped up the season in the American Athletic Conference Quarterfinals, falling to top-seeded SMU.
Xavier last faced the Owls in 2014, taking a 6-1 win in Philadelphia. The Musketeers bring a five-match winning streak into the 2023 match-up.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier men's tennis took a 4-3 win over Tennessee State at the University of Tennessee on Sunday afternoon, moving to 9-4 on the season.
In doubles play, TSU took the No. 1 court, 6-2, against Ryan Cahill and Deacon Thomas, but the Musketeers picked up a 6-3 decision on the No. 2 court for Pascal Mosberger and Shashank Reddy. The point went to the Tigers with a 7-5 win on No. 3 over Charlie Temming and Jorge Santamaria.
In singles play, TSU picked up points on the No. 1 court, 6-0, 6-2, against Ryan Cahill and on the No. 4 court, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, against Kyle Totorica.
The Musketeers won on No. 2, 6-2, 6-3, with Deacon Thomas picking up his seventh win of the season. Xavier also took No. 5, with a 6-1, 6-4 win for Marco Pennelli, his 10th singles win of the season, and on No. 6, a 6-0, 6-2 win for Jorge Santamaria, his seventh win of the dual season.
The Musketeers sealed the win with a No. 3 singles victory, with Pascal Mosberger taking the two-set win in tiebreakers 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) to set the final score at 4-3.

THE MUSKETEERS

For the week of Feb. 20, Xavier moved in the ITA team rankings, coming in at No. 61. It marked the first time Xavier was ranked since February 2013, when Xavier came in at No. 73.
The 2021-22 Musketeers finished the season at 12-9 overall, the most wins since the 2015-16 season. Last year's squad advanced to the BIG EAST Semifinals for the first time since 2016 after earning the No. 3 seed, the program's highest seed in the BIG EAST Championship since joining the conference in 2013-14.
Among the returners from last year's team are All-BIG EAST Second Team selection Ryan Cahill, as well as Marco Pennelli, Charlie Temming, Cambell Nakayama, Pascal Mosberger, Shashank Reddy, Aaron Thompson and Jake Zipoli.
Xavier also added a trio of newcomers, including transfer Jorge Santamaria, as well as freshmen Deacon Thomas and Kyle Totorica.