MATCH CENTRAL
NAIA No. 2 Embry-Riddle (12-3) vs. NCAA II No. 37 (12-6)
DATE: Thursday, April 2, 2015
CITY:Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: Crotty Tennis Complex
TIME: 3:30 p.m.
SERIES: ERAU leads 7-0
LAST MEETING: ERAU def. FIT 9-0, Feb. 7, 2011
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FIRST SERVE
• Embry-Riddle is in its 27th season of competition
• Deni Zmak and Jaime Sanchez-Canamares Rios are ranked No. 2 doubles team in the country, and Zmak is ranked No. 1 in singles
• Head Coach Dave Paschal is in his 11th season as the Eagles' head coach.
• Embry-Riddle and Florida Tech are meeting in men's tennis for the eighth time

ABOUT THE EAGLES
The second-ranked Eagles are currently on a four-match winning streak and bring a 12-3 overall record into Thursday's contest. The Eagles are playing their fifth match against a team from the Sunshine State Conference this season.
 
Their last time out saw the Blue and Gold improve to 5-0 in Sun Conference play with a 9-0 shutout of Webber International. Deni Zmak, the top-ranked singles player in the NAIA, continues to lead the Blue and Gold in singles wins with a 24-1 ledger. Rodolfo Arreygue is second with 16 singles wins, playing all of his matches at the fourth-sixth positions in the lineup. Zmak and Jaime Sanchez-Canamares Rios are ranked second nationally in doubles and are 21-6 on the year.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Bill Macom is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Florida Tech men's tennis program. Ranked No. 37 in the latest ITA/NCAA II poll, the Panthers fell to 12-6 overall with an 8-1 loss to ninth-ranked Lynn on Saturday.  Ricardo Corona is leading the Panther lineup in singles wins with a 21-6 record, playing the majority of his matches at the No. 5 spot. Corona and Beau Fieldsend are tied with 14 doubles wins.

THE ERAU-FIT SERIES
Embry-Riddle and Florida Tech have faced each other eight times. The Eagles have won all seven of the previous matches in the series, including a 9-0 decision against the Panthers in the teams' last meeting on Feb. 7, 2011.

The Last Meeting
The third-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team opened its 2011 campaign with a 9-0 defeat of NCAA DII Florida Tech (0-3) on Feb. 7, 2011.

Chris Freeman and Peter Francis made quick work of William Fountain and Jorge Abarca Montero at No. 2 doubles, registering the Eagles' first point with an 8-0 win. Adrian Bayh and Simon Felix were next off the court with an 8-1 defeat of Cory Hodes and Eddie Shelton at the third spot. Jan Hoekzema and Patrick Besch completed the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win over Drew Hollis and Michael Schmidt at the top doubles position.

Felix wasted little time in notching the first dual match singles win of his career as he bested Shelton 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. The next match off the court was at the No. 2 spot where Besch did not drop a single game against Hollis to score the clincher, 6-0, 6-0.

After topping Fountain 6-2 in the first set, Francis faltered 6-1 in the second, but the junior rebounded to put the Eagles up 6-0 with a 6-1 win in the third. Freeman held off a strong challenge from Schmidt to win his match at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 7-5, while Hoekzema got the better of the match-up at the No. 3 spot, besting Hodes 6-2, 6-4. David Spennare sealed the shutout with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over D.J. Pate at the sixth singles position.

BY THE NUMBERS
356 - All-time wins in ERAU Men's Tennis history
208 - Eagle victories under guidance of Head Coach Dave Paschal
74 - Conference wins in program history
15 - NAIA National Tournament appearances
11 - Seasons of competition with Dave Paschal at the helm
11 - Regular season conference championships
7 – Individual singles national titles
6 – Conference tournament titles
4 – Individual doubles national titles
1 – NAIA National team title

EAGLES IN THE RANKINGS
The Eagles are ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 poll, marking the 10th consecutive season that ERAU Men's Tennis is ranked among the nation's top five. The Eagles have three student-athletes ranked among the nation's Top 50, including No. 1 Deni Zmak,  No. 17 Jaime Sanchez-Canamares Rios and No. 45 Carlos Becke. Zmak and Sanche-Canamares also comprise the second-ranked doubles team in the nation .