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April 30, 2010

WHAT:  No. 3 Texas (23-2, 6-0 Big 12) begins postseason play this weekend at the 2010 Big 12 Championships.  UT is hosting the event for the third time in the event’s 14-year history. 

WHEN:  Saturday, May 1 – Noon Central (semifinals); UT will take on the winner of Friday’s match between fourth-seeded Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

WHERE:  Penick-Allison Tennis Center – Austin, Texas

PRE-TOURNAMENT COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
“It’s nice to have a first-round bye, and it’s certainly great to play at home and not have to travel this time of year.  We’re really excited about this tournament and looking forward to the next stage of the season.  It should be a great challenge this weekend.  We hope to have a great crowd out here for the matches.”

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Texas has reached the finals of  the Big 12 Championship on six occasions and at each of the last four Big 12 postseason tournaments.  The Horns claimed the tournament titles in 1997, 1999 and most recently in 2006 at Baylor.

LAST TIME OUT:  The third-ranked Longhorns visited Nebraska and knocked off the Cornhuskers by a 5-2 count on April 25.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
Texas moved up to a season-high No. 3 in the ITA team rankings on Tuesday, April 13 after posting a 4-3 win at then-No. 9 Baylor on April 10 in Waco.  Texas has remained at No. 3 in the two subsequent ITA rankings releases.

ITA SINGLES RANKINGS
10. Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas)
20. Ed Corrie (Texas)
95. Josh Zavala (Texas)
96. Kellen Damico (Texas)
124. Daniel Whitehead (Texas)

KUTROVSKY, ZAVALA CLIMB UT’S ALL-TIME WINS LIST
As a two-time All-American, Texas senior Dimitar Kutrovsky established himself long ago as one of the top players in program history, and he has continued a steady climb toward the top of UT’s all-time singles wins list.

Kutrovsky ranks fourth all-time in singles wins at Texas with 111.  He is within striking distance of Jack Brasington’s record of 121 singles wins as a Longhorn.  His classmate, Josh Zavala, ranks ninth all-time at UT with 99 wins and has totaled 26 wins thus far in his senior season.     

CENTER COLLECTS 200TH WIN AT TEXAS
Texas’ Michael Center collected his 200th win as the UT head coach on March 28 when the Horns dispatched Oklahoma by a 6-1 count on March 28 in Austin.  UT’s victory over Tulsa on April 6 nailed down Center’s fifth consecutive 20-win season in Austin and his sixth 20-win season overall at UT. 

Center, now in his 19th season as a head tennis coach, holds a career record of 364-135 (.729) and a 205-67 (.754) mark at the helm of the Longhorns’ men’s tennis program. 

THE 2009-10 LONGHORNS
Texas picked up its 12th win over an ITA top-25 opponent against Texas A&M on April 21.  UT has also defeated then-No. 1 USC, No. 12 Baylor, No. 13 California, No. 14 Duke, No. 7 Stanford, No. 22 Florida State, No. 25 Michigan, No. 22 Pepperdine, No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 20 Oklahoma.  Texas also defeated Texas A&M in February

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 highlighted by an appearance at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships last November. 

Kutrovsky was selected Tuesday, March 10 as the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week and earned the honor once more on Tuesday, April 6 after defeating Texas Tech’s sixth-ranked Raony Carvalho on April 3 in Lubbock.

Junior Ed Corrie joined Kutrovsky in the singles draw at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoors last fall.  Corrie knocked off USC’s top-ranked Steve Johnson to clinch the Longhorns’ 4-2 win over the top-ranked Trojans on Feb. 13 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

Senior Josh Zavala has won 16 of his last 17 singles decisions dating back to his victory over Tennessee’s Matt Brewer on Feb. 14 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.  Zavala clinched UT’s victory at Texas Tech on April 3 and the Horns’ win over Tulsa on April 6.  He added match-clinching wins against Texas A&M (April 21) and Nebraska (April 25) that earned him a selection as the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.