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Feb. 11, 2010

WHAT:  No. 8 Texas (4-0) makes its fourth consecutive appearance at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.  The eighth-seeded Longhorns will take on ninth-seeded Stanford in Friday’s opening round. 

WHEN:  Friday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 15 – Texas will take on Stanford on Friday, Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. Central.  Win or lose, Texas will meet either top-seeded USC or 16th-seeded Fresno State on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central.

WHERE:  The Boyd Tinsley Courts at The Boar’s Head Sports Club – Charlottesville, Va.

LAST MEETING vs. STANFORD:  Texas suffered a 4-3 defeat to Stanford on Feb. 14, 2009 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago.   

LAST TIME OUT:  Texas defeated No. 17 Texas A&M by a 4-3 count on Feb. 5 in Houston. 

LAST YEAR AT THE ITA NATIONAL INDOORS
Texas opened the 2009 ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-0 win over Michigan before falling to Stanford in the quarterfinals, 4-3.  Eventual national champion USC defeated Texas by a 4-1 count in the consolation round. 

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
Singles
5. Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas)
9. Ed Corrie (Texas)
37. Alex Clayton (Stanford)
38. Josh Zavala (Texas)
54. Bradley Klahn (Stanford)
85. Daniel Whitehead (Texas)
104. Vasko Mladenov (Texas)

Doubles
1 Bradley Klahn/Ryan Thacher (Stanford)
22. Dimitar Kutrovsky/Josh Zavala (Texas)

PRE-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On UT making its fourth consecutive ITA National Team Indoors appearance: It’s as challenge to get in this tournament.  The selection process used to be based on your team rankings, and now you have to earn your way into the event.  You’ve got 16 of the best teams in the country, and you’re part of a special field.  Once you’re here, have to focus in on what you have to do, because it’s tough to win matches here.

On Stanford: Obviously, Stanford has one of the richest in tradition in our sport, and they’ve won 17 national titles.  This is a great Stanford team.  They’re very strong from top to bottom.  They have successfully recruited the best U.S. players in the last two or three years, and this is a legitimate national championship-caliber team.  We feel we are one of those teams, as well.  We feel this will be a great battle and test for us.

On how his team has handled the weather and travel-related issues this week: The weather around the country has been rough for all of us.  We had a long travel day yesterday, and our practice conditions weren’t the best in Austin this week.  But, we’re here and we don’t have any excuses.  Our guys are excited to be here and are ready to play.

THE 2009-10 LONGHORNS
Under 10th-year head coach Michael Center, Texas features four singles starters who led the Longhorns to the NCAA title match in 2008 and to the NCAA semifinals in 2009.  Senior Dimitar Kutrovsky is off to a fast start for Texas with an 18-4 overall singles record highlighted by an appearance at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships last November.  Junior Ed Corrie joined Kutrovsky in the singles draw at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoors and boasts a 15-5 overall singles record.

Junior Kellen Damico finished the 2009 dual-match season by going unbeaten in his last 14 singles contests, and with his win at Texas A&M on Feb. 5, he has won his last 14 dual-match decisions.  Senior Josh Zavala holds a 9-5 overall singles record, which features wins over Oklahoma’s 10th-ranked Andrei Daescu and California’s 98th-ranked Bozhidar Katsarov.