Toledo, Ohio – The University of Toledo men's tennis team opens the spring portion of their season on the road as it faces Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. at noon on Saturday and Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

"Our guys came to Toledo for challenging matches," said head coach Al Wermer. "Right away we'll kick off 2019 schedule with the bang. We've put in the work. It's time to go."

The Rockets opened play in the fall with several tournaments. In early October sophomore Tyler Gargas took runner-up in Flight H singles at the Purdue Fall Invitational, falling to Danilo Pejovic in the final round (3-6. 6-4, 12-10). Senior Reid Teatsorth/Gargas faced fellow Rocket sophomore/senior duo Nikola Arsic/Luka Vitosevic in the finals for doubles, taking the victory with a score of 7-6. 

Senior Vince Anzalone fought his way to the main draw of the ITA Midwest Regionals in mid-October. Anzalone claimed victories over Notre Dame's Andrew Mariados (6-2, 6-1), UIC's Pelle Strandberg (7-6 (1-1), 6-3), and DePaul's Christopher Casti (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) before falling to Cleveland State's Matthew Terry (2-6, 6-3, 6-3).

The Rockets wrapped the fall portion of their season in November with the MAC Indoor Tournament, where freshman Cole Shoults landed third in Flight Six singles as well as in Flight Three doubles with partner Serjen Olmedo. Vitosevic also took third in Flight Three singles after defeating Binghamton's Dylan Friedman in two sets and Buffalo's Valdamar Holm in three sets.

Last Time against Purdue
The Rockets met up with Purdue last season on Feb 3, where the Boilermakers clinched a 7-0 sweep.

Scouting Purdue
The Boilermakers went 11-17 overall (2-9 Big 10) last season, recording five non-conference sweeps. Gergely Madarasz and junior Athell Bennett went 4-0 in No. 1 doubles last spring. Junior duo Stephan Koenigsfest and Javier Rodriguez went 4-0 in non-conference play in No. 2 doubles.

Purdue leads the series against the Rockets 7-0 since their meeting in 2003.

Last Time against Indiana
Toledo last met up with Indiana during the 2014-15 season on Feb 25, in Louisville, KY. The Rockets fell 4-1 in the contest and were led by Stjapan Sisko, who had clinched Toledo's only point at the No. 1 singles spot.  

Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers went 15-12 overall (7-4 Big 10) last season, with five sweeps. Indiana fought their way to the Big Ten Tournament, sweeping #12 Michigan State before falling to #4 Minnesota. The Hoosiers'  lone senior, Antonio Cembellin, won 12 matches in dual play and maintained a 6-3 doubles record in Big Ten play last season.

Indiana leads the series against the Rockets 6-0 since their meeting in 2005.

Prior to their match against the Rockets, the Hoosiers will open Sunday with an 11 a.m. match against Ball State.