Harding Men's Tennis
#33 Harding (4-2) at #35 Southwest Baptist (3-2)
Location: Bolivar, Mo.
Time: Friday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m.
Series: SBU leads 9-5
Coaches: Harding – Marco Ruiz (4-2, 1st season at Harding); Southwest Baptist – John Bryant (46th season at SBU).
Harding Men's Tennis
#33 Harding (4-2) at #27 Drury (6-0)
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Time: Saturday, Mar. 1, Noon
Series: Drury leads 5-4
Coaches: Harding – Marco Ruiz (4-2, 1st season at Harding); Drury – Jarrod Smith (9th season at Drury).
Harding men's tennis, ranked No. 33 in the latest ITA Division II Rankings, takes on a pair of nationally-ranked teams on the road this weekend. Harding opens at No. 35 Southwest Baptist on Friday at 6 p.m. and then plays No. 27 Drury on Saturday at noon.
Harding is coming off a pair of 5-2 losses in Missouri last weekend. The Bisons fell to Missouri-St. Louis on Friday and Lindenwood (MO) on Saturday.
Harding has won 69 percent of its singles matches this season, including 66 percent (21-11) in dual matches. The Bisons have their best dual record at No. 1 singles, where Mathaus Spiering is 5-1. Harding is 3-1 at both No. 5 and No. 6.
Junior Caleb McReynolds has a 7-2 singles record this season and has won his last four singles matches. McReynolds is one win away from becoming the fourth active Harding player with 20 or more career singles victories. Jon Mark Rowden is Harding's current leader with 30 singles wins.
Southwest Baptist snapped a two-match losing streak Saturday with a 6-3 home victory over 49th-ranked Rockhurst.
Drury has opened the season with six straight victories, including wins over No. 31 Washburn, No. 28 Ouachita Baptist, and No. 34 Delta State.
The series between Harding and Southwest Baptist began in 1975. The Bisons lost the first four meetings before collecting its first victory in 1994. The teams last met in 2007 with Southwest Baptist winning 8-1.
Harding and Drury played for the first time in 1984 with the Bisons winning 7-2. The Bisons won the first four meetings in the series, and the Panthers have won the last five, most recently in 2004.
