Men's Tennis Announces 2015-16 Schedule
The University of Miami men’s tennis team will face a strenuous travel schedule in the fall, then will host 14 home matches in the spring for the 2015-16 season, Coach Mario Rincon announced Tuesday.
“Our team is looking forward to kicking off the fall season,” Rincon said. “We have great events on the schedule this fall, and our guys will face tough competitors from many teams in the country. It was a successful summer for many of our guys, and they are excited to compete again soon.”
Miami opens the year in mid-September as the Canes will be split between a pair of events Sept. 18-20, with some student-athletes at the Princeton Farnsworth Ivy Plus in New Jersey, while others will be at the UVA Ranked 1+1 in Charlottesville, Va.
The next weekend (Sept. 25-27), the team will travel across the state to Ft. Myers for the Bedford Cup – State of Florida Championships. One year ago, two underclassmen made waves at the 2014 Bedford Cup – State of Florida Championship as Nile Clark played a four-hour finals match and Bernard Tefel won his consolation bracket at the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
The ITA All-American Championships will be held Oct. 3-11 in Tulsa, Okla., then Gainesville, Fla., will host the ITA Regional Championships Oct. 16-19. As a freshman, Piotr Lomacki was the first Hurricane to play in the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships since 2008, when former All-American Daniel Vallverdu was the No. 3 seed overall. Lomacki also played in the main draw singles quarterfinals of the 2014 Regional Championships.
The Canes return to Ft. Myers for the FGCU Invitational, a three-day event, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, then the squad splits again for a pair of events in early November. Selected Canes will play in the USTA Futures event in Birmingham, Ala., while others will be at the FSU Disney Invitational in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 5-8. One year ago, Lomacki played in the main draw singles semifinals of the Futures event.
Miami wraps up the fall season in mid-November with the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships Nov. 12-15 in Flushing, N.Y., and the Lakewood Ranch Invitational in Sarasota, Fla., Nov. 13-15. Miami last competed at Lakewood Ranch in the fall of 2012.
The spring season begins Jan. 16 with 10 non-conference matches, followed by 12 Atlantic Coast Conference matchups. All 10 non-conference events are in the state of Florida, with eight hosted at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables. Eleven of Miami’s 12 ACC matchups are against opponents ranked in the spring 2015 final polls.
Non-conference play begins with back-to-back 1 p.m. matches, as the Canes face St. John’s (Jan. 16) and Florida Atlantic (Jan. 17) in Coral Gables. Miami then travels to Jacksonville, Fla., for the UNF Invitational Jan. 23 and 24, where the Canes could face No. 72 Alabama, No. 74 UNC Wilmington or North Florida.
The Canes then return to their home court for nine-straight matches from Jan. 29-March 13. UM wraps up the month of January by battling in-state foe UCF (Jan. 29), then hosting No. 63 Troy (Jan. 30).
After just two matches in February – both against Army on Feb. 15 – the Canes attack a strenuous two-month stretch, with eight total matches in March and six in April, including 11 matches against ranked foes.
On March 3, Michigan faces Miami, then the Canes open ACC play on March 6 against No. 31 Florida State, before wrapping up non-conference play on March 8 against Middle Tennessee State.
Beginning March 11, Miami faces 10 ranked opponents in its last 11 matches, beginning with No. 10 Duke (March 11) and No. 11 North Carolina (March 13).
The Canes hit the road for four of the next five matches, beginning with a two-match roadtrip to Boston College (March 18) in Chestnut Hill, Mass., then at No. 37 Notre Dame (March 20) in South Bend, Ind. After the March 25 home event against No. 13 Wake Forest, UM hits the road again, this time to Atlanta to face No. 44 Georgia Tech (April 1) and to South Carolina to battle No. 66 Clemson on April 3.
Miami’s final regular-season home matches are April 8 and April 10, as the Canes face No. 39 NC State and No. 33 Louisville, respectively. UM concludes the regular season on the road in Virginia, competing against No. 18 Virginia Tech (April 15) and defending national champion, No. 1 Virginia (April 17).
This year’s ACC Championships will be held April 21-24 in Cary, N.C., followed by the NCAA First and Second Round May 6-7 at campus sites, then the NCAA Championship May 19-22 and NCAA Individual Championship May 24-30, both in Tulsa, Okla.
The 2015-16 Canes return six players from last season’s squad, including one junior in Bernard Tefel, and five sophomores: Kevin Bondar, Nile Clark, Niclas Genovese, Christian Langmo and Piotr Lomacki. UM also welcomes three newcomers in Jesse Flores (UCF/Oakville, Ont.), Dane Dunlap (Wasago, Ont.) and Max Andrews (Rice/Manchester, Eng.).
Stay up to date with the Canes on HurricaneSports.com. To interact with the UM men’s tennis team socially, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter and Instagram and like the team on Facebook.com/CanesMensTennis.
