Gameday: Miami vs. Wake Forest | Jan. 28 | 1 p.m.
Jan. 26, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team will participate in the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the University of Florida from Jan. 28 through Jan. 29. The Canes will open up against ACC opponent Wake Forest at 1 p.m. at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex.
“We are all excited to play in the ITA Kick-off Weekend in Gainesville this weekend,” said head coach Mario Rincon. “We were placed in a very tough region.”
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend is a national event featuring 60 men’s and 60 women’s teams from across the country. There are 15 men’s and 15 women’s universities hosting four-team tournaments in which the winner will earn a berth at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The host schools as well as other participants were determined by the order of the year-end 2011 Campbell/ITA team ranking.
The weekend tournament will feature four teams currently ranked in the Top 60 of the Campbell’s ITA College Tennis Rankings. Host team Florida is the highest ranked team at No. 5 in the nation. The Canes are the next highest at No. 33, while Wake Forest is currently ranked No. 41. New Mexico, the last team in the tournament, is also ranked at No. 55.
The Hurricanes enter their match with Wake Forest on a two match winning streak after defeating Florida Atlantic and Florida A&M last week. The Demon Deacons have won their last three dual matches against Furman, Charlotte and UCF.
In Miami’s 4-3 win over FAMU, the team took four out of six singles matches with wins from Wilfredo Gonzalez, Diego Soto, Victor Mauz and Santiago Nieto. The doubles pair of Gabriel Flores and Diego Soto earned the Canes’ one victory in doubles matches.
Wake Forest cruised through their first three dual matches of the spring season as they are led by the Danny Kreyman, who is currently ranked No. 115 in the nation in singles play.
“Wake Forest is a tough team from the ACC that we have had great battles with in the past,” continued Rincon. “We are looking forward to playing on Saturday.”
The winner of Miami’s first match will go on to face the winner of Florida versus New Mexico on Sunday, Jan. 29 for a chance to play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which begin Feb.17 and run through Feb. 20.
The Gators will be a tough matchup as they head into the weekend tournament with a record of 1-0, three players ranked in the Top 125 and all three doubles teams ranked in the Top 50. In singles play, Bob van Overbeek, Spencer Newman, and Andrew Butz are ranked No. 69, 84 and 102, respectively. Nassim Silam and Billy Federhofer make up the No. 4 doubles team in the nation.
New Mexico heads to Gainesville with a 2-0 record. The Lobos have one person ranked in the Top 100 with Jadon Phillips ranked at No. 81. The doubles team of Phillip Anderson and Jadon Phillips is also ranked at No. 16.
For more information on the University of Miami men’s tennis team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM Men’s Tennis Team via twitter, please visit Twitter.com/CanesMensTennis.
Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
