Men's Tennis preview: ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 30, 2009 WHAT: No. 2 Texas (2-0) is serving as one of 15 hosts for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, where teams play for the right to participate in the upcoming ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The teams that win two matches at the regional sites will advance to the National Indoors set for Feb. 13-16 in Chicago. An additional at-large team will later be selected to fill out the 16-team National Indoors field. WHO/WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 1 - The losing teams in Saturday's matches will play at 11 a.m. Central; the winning teams in Saturday's matches will play at 2 p.m. Central WHERE: Penick-Allison Tennis Center - Austin, Texas LAST TIME OUT: Texas defeated No. 11 Florida State by a 4-2 count on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Tallahassee, Fla. LIVE SCORING (for Texas matches only): Click here for live scoring. THE 2009 LONGHORNS: Ninth-year head coach Michael Center and assistant coach Ricardo Rubio, the 2008 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year, welcome four singles starters - each of whom have earned All-America honors as Longhorns - from last year's NCAA runner-up squad. Junior Dimitar Kutrovsky returns after holding down the No. 1 singles slot in his first two seasons. The native Bulgarian clinched UT's 2008 NCAA quarterfinal win over Ohio State and its NCAA semifinal win over UCLA.
Sophomores Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie earned ITA doubles All-America honors a season ago and earned a spot on the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 1 doubles. Senior Miguel Reyes Varela, who earned ITA doubles All-America honors as a freshman, was selected to the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 6 singles and at No. 2 doubles with former Longhorn Luis Diaz Barriga. Junior Josh Zavala teamed up with Kutrovsky to land the No. 3 doubles slot on the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team. UT welcomes junior Olivier Sajous, a top-50 standout who played the last two seasons at Florida Atlantic University. |
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