University of Minnesota Athletics
ITA Kick-Off Postponed
1/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Update: 1/23/2016: Due to the blizzard conditions in the area, the ITA Kick-Off has suspended play for Saturday, and will be rescheduled for competition on Sunday and Monday. Make sure to follow us on Twitter @GopherMTennis for any more updates and information.
The No. 22 ranked University of Minnesota Gophers are off the New York City, N.Y., to compete in their seventh ITA Kick-Off.
The Gophers face No. 16 Columbia at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, and depending on the outcomes will face either No. 18 Stanford or No. 14 Virginia Tech on Sunday. The team that leaves the weekend with two wins will head to the ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championships.
"I am looking forward to watching our players compete against what will surely be tough competition," head coach Geoff Young said. "I am particularly curious to see how we respond under pressure and how resilient we will be. In order for us to be at our best (the players) will need to trust themselves and their teammates."
The ITA Kick-Off features some of the best teams from all around the country. The Gophers are 3-9 at the prestigious event in program history. This will be a true test for the young Gophers quad coming off two strong wins last weekend where all four freshmen on the roster saw action.
"We understand the strength of the teams that await us in New York," freshman Justyn Levin said. "However we are a young and exciting team. We will rise to the occasion."
What's up so far?
The Gophers opened with two 7-0 victories over DePaul and South Dakota State. Between the two matches all four freshman saw action for the young team.
Marino Alpeza and Levin both won four matches on the day while fellow freshman Josip Krstanovic picked up three wins and was leading in his doubles match that went unfinished.
The sophomore combination of Matic Spec and Felix Corwin each picked up wins at the No. 1 singles spot on the day. Ruben Weber improved his record to 8-3 this year after winning a marathon of a match at the No. 3 singles spot against DePaul.
Weber leads all players with an 8-3 singles record, Corwin is 7-2, Levin 7-4, Alpeza 6-4 and Spec 5-2 to round out the top singles records so far.
The team has tried out quite a few doubles tandems but are led by Spec and Corwin who are 6-2 together.
About the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Sixty teams get invited to take part in the ITA Kick-off Weekend. The top three teams per region according to the final ITA Div. I national team rankings if ranked in the top 75 make up 36 teams. The remaining 24 teams are invited based on the final ITA national rankings.
The No. 1 team in each site will face the No. 4 team. The No. 2 team will face the No. 3 team with two matches are guaranteed for the weekend counting as two team dates. The 15 schools that win both of their matches at these events will be invited to play in the 2016 ITA National Indoor Championship with the host school receiving an automatic invite to the final 16. The men's will be hosted at the University of Virginia this year.
About Columbia
The Lions will open their 2016 spring season this weekend. They earned the chance to host this weekend after back-to-back seasons in which the team not only won the Ivy League Championship, but also advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. They went 16-5 overall while going 7-0 in conference.
The Lions had two strong doubles teams this fall as Shawn Hadavi and Richard Pham advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles bracket, while Michal Rolski and Mike Vermeer made the consolation final at the 2015 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
About Stanford
The Cardinal opened up the 2016 with a pair of 4-0 wins Wednesday. They went 18-7 last season with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. They advance to the second round after their first tournament victory since the 2012 season.
Stanford sophomore Tom Fawcett is nationally ranked ninth leading Stanford this season. The No. 9 ranking is the highest in Fawcett's career, who collected a No. 20 preseason ranking and closed out the 2015 season No. 35 in the nation. In addition, three Cardinal teammates also secured spots in the rankings with David Wilczynski at No. 57,Michael Genender No. 61 and Maciek Romanowicz No. 89.
About Virginia Tech
The Hokies return nine players from last season's team that finished 18th in the final ITA standings after tallying a 20-5 record, including wins over then-ranked No. 2, No. 14 and No. 23. They took a trip to the NCAA Tournament before falling in the second round.
They are led by Jose Monteiro is ranked 14th in singles, marking one of the highest individual rankings for the Hokies in program history while Edoardo Tessaro has earned a ranking of 46th.
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Players Mentioned
