April 26, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team added two players for the 2007-08 season as Germany's Michael Garthoffner and Spain's Jorge Vazquez have signed National Letters of Intent with the Tigers.

"Michael is one of the top German junior tennis players and loves tennis," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "He works very hard and should fit in great with our current team.

Garthoffner will be the second German player to sign with the Tigers under Goebel's reign, following Michael Jetter (2005-06). He was 12-5 in doubles on the ITF Junior circuit, winning the doubles crown at a tournament in Malta on the hardcourts in 2005. In January of 2006, he advanced to the quarters of the CASIO ITF Junior tournament on carpet in Germany in doubles, after making a quarterfinal appearance at the Leeuwenbergh Open in 2005 on the clay in the Netherlands.

Vazquez is the No. 1 ranked junior college player in both singles and doubles in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, and is the third player from Tyler Junior College to join Memphis in the past two seasons.

"Jorge was a teammate of two of our current players (Benny Fischer and Amrit Narasimhan) and is one of the top junior college players in the country," Goebel said. "He has already gotten a lot of team experience and has a big, aggressive game style that will allow him to come into line-up right away at the Division I level. "

Vazquez and his doubles teammate at No. 1 Tyler Junior College in Texas won the ITA Fall regional championship in doubles in October when teamed with Nahom Serekerberhan. That duo is the country's No. 1 ranked junior college tandem, while Vazquez tops the singles rankings. Also in the fall, the doubles duo advanced to the finals of the ITA Small College Tennis Championships, the "Super Bowl" of NCAA Division II and II and all NAIA and junior college tennis levels.

The two signees will join a Tiger roster that loses just one player to graduation, as Garrison Pilant capped his Tiger career earlier this month.