DALLAS – After going 3-0 last weekend with a ranked win over No. 65 USF and two 7-0 sweeps against Tennessee Tech and Bellarmine, No. 19 Middle Tennessee hits the road bound for the Lone Star State to take on No. 42 SMU on Friday, March 18 at 2 p.m. and Conference USA foe Rice on Sunday, March 20 at 11 a.m in true-road matches.
 
No. 19 Middle Tennessee (18-3) has won 12-straight matches, five-straight over ranked opponents, and four-straight true-road matches. The Blue Raiders have won eight-straight matches over Conference USA opponents, their last C-USA loss was at Old Dominion on April 6, 2019 heading into Sunday's contest against Rice.
 
Friday's match against the No. 42 SMU can be viewed on PlaySight, in addition, the Mustangs offer Live Stats to keep up with scores throughout the match. 
 
Fans can find Sunday's match against Rice on the Owls' website, along with live stats.
 
On March 16, Senior Pavel Motl earned the C-USA Athlete of the Week Award, he becomes the sixth different Blue Raider to earn the honor on the season. For the first time in the Jimmy Borendame era, all six starters have been named to the award in the same season. Motl has won three-straight singles matches, bouncing back after lingering sholder issues.
 
All nine players on MT's roster come into the weekend with winning records and are currently on a win streak in singles competition.
 
Middle Tennessee's Graduate Students are anchoring the Blue Raiders lately, Chris Edge (No. 101 ITA) is 17-3 on the season and in 9-1 in his last 10 appearances. Stepan Holis is 11-6 and has won seven-straight.
 
Senior Francisco Rocha (No. 69 ITA) comes into the match against the Mustangs with a record of 14-1 and has won 10-straight singles matches playing on court Nos. 1 and 2.
 
Havelte, Netherlands product Stijn Slump (No. 115 ITA) improved to 13-5 on the season after going 3-0 last week. Slump has won five-straight matches and is 3-3 against ranked opponents on the Blue Raider top court this year.
 
After suffering a hand injury against No. 24 Auburn, Freshman Oskar Brostrom Poulsen has returned to winning form, winning three of his last four matches.
 
In doubles competition, Rocha and Brostrom Poulsen come in as the No. 47 doubles pairing in the country. The Blue Raiders are 2-2 in their last four doubles portion of dual matches, prior to this span, MT won 15 of 16 doubles points over opponents.
 
Match 22: No. 19 Middle Tennessee (18-3, 1-0 C-USA) at No. 42 SMU (10-4, 0-0 American)
- Friday, March 18, 2022 – 2:00 p.m.
- Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex
- Dallas

Match 23: No. 19 Middle Tennessee (18-3, 1-0 C-USA) at Rice (9-9, 0-0 C-USA)
- Sunday, March 20, 2022 – 11:00 a.m.
- George R. Brown Tennis Center
- Houston
 
All-time vs. SMU
Friday's match is the third meeting between MT and SMU, the series is split 1-1 and will be the first meeting between the programs since May 13, 2000. Friday's match will also be the first meeting outside of a neutral venue.
 
All-time vs. Rice
The Blue Raiders and Owls have met 12 times prior to Sunday's contest, MT leads the series 7-5 and 3-2 in Houston. Middle Tennessee has won the last four meetings against Rice dating back to April 22, 2017.
 
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