Men’s Tennis Heads to Big Easy for Pair of Matches
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Following a promising performance during the fall portion of the 2017-18 campaign, the University of Miami men’s tennis team returns to action on Friday in New Orleans where it will open the spring portion of its slate with matches against No. 22 Tulane (1 p.m.) and New Orleans (5 p.m.).
THE SERIES
Miami will face Tulane for the eighth time in program history on Friday. The Hurricanes and Green Wave are tied in the all-time series 3-3-1. Miami’s matchup with New Orleans will mark the first time the two teams have met in program history.
NOTING THE HURRICANES
Pablo Aycart Joya | Freshman | Algeciras, Spain
-Posted a 2-2 record in doubles competition in the fall.
-Tallied consecutive two-set victories at the Rice Invitational.
Nile Clark | Senior | Philadelphia, Pa.
-Recorded a 5-2 mark in doubles competition this past fall.
-Reached the quarterfinals of the Bedford Cup in doubles competition.
-Earned an opening-round doubles victory at the 2017 ITA Southeast Championships.
Dane Dunlap | Redshirt Sophomore | Washago, Ontario
-Posted a 5-4 tally in singles competition and a 6-2 record in doubles play this past fall.
-Earned two singles victories at the 2017 ITA Men’s All-American Championships where he advanced to the final pre-qualification round.
-Won the Doubles A bracket of the Bedford Cup with Christian Langmo.
Niclas Genovese | Senior | Zug, Switzerland
-Tallied a 5-3 record in singles play and a 3-2 mark in doubles competition.
-Earned one singles and one doubles win at the Rice Invitational.
Bojan Jankulovski | Freshman | Skopje, Macedonia
-Recorded seven wins in singles competition.
-Posted a straight-set victory over Wisconsin’s Josef Dodridge in the ITA Men’s All-American Championships in his Hurricane debut.
-Combined to win a team-best three matches at the ITA Southeast Championships.
Jake Kuhlman | Freshman | Grand Forks, N.D.
-Posted a 3-3 mark in doubles competition.
-Won a pair of singles matches at the Rice Invitational.
Christian Langmo | Senior | Boca Raton, Fla.
-Combined to win a team-best 16 matches this past fall, claiming eight victories in singles and doubles competition.
-Won the Doubles A bracket of the Bedford Cup with Dane Dunlap.
-Advanced to the qualification stage of the ITA Men’s All-American Championships with four straight victories.
Piotr Lomacki | Senior | Warsaw, Poland
-Did not compete this past fall.
-Posted a 6-3 record as a junior during the 2016-17 campaign.
Tatsuki Shimamoto | Freshman | Nagoya, Japan
-Posted a 7-3 mark in doubles competition.
-Reached the quarterfinals of the Bedford Cup.
-Earned three straight-set victories on his way to the Houndstooth Singles Draw title match at the CCB Collegiate Invitational.
Adria Soriano | Freshman | Barcelona, Spain
-Tied for the team lead with eight singles victories and posted six doubles wins this past fall.
-Defeated Tulane’s Tim Ruetzel to win the Blue Draw singles title at the Rice Invitational.
-Reached the Doubles A final at the Bedford Cup.
AT THE NET WITH COACH PIRIC
On the spring season opener…
“Well this is what we work for. This is basically the culmination of the work for the past six to seven months and it comes down to this weekend. The guys are excited. We’ve been working hard, the guys are ready to compete and that’s what we are going to do.”
On playing No. 22 Tulane and New Orleans…
“Tulane has been a very good team for the past five or six years. They’re very solid from top to bottom and it gives us an opportunity to see where we are at right away. New Orleans is another team that is going to give us a challenge. This weekend will serve as a measuring stick for our guys to see where we are, where we have come to and how much work we have ahead of us.”
On the team’s level of excitement heading into Friday afternoon’s matches…
“The guys are very excited. Half of our team are freshmen and most of them are anxious on how college tennis looks and how it all feels and that’s why the upperclassman have stepped up to lead the way, but as a team, we are excited to battle and excited to compete.”
On the team’s mentality heading into Friday…
“We have to fight. We have to believe that we can do it and having a belief is a prerequisite for that. We have to go out and each guy has to embrace his role on the team and each guy has to fight within that role. We have to do a lot of battling out there from the beginning to the end every time we play. That’s what I’m looking for them to do this weekend and for the duration of the year.”
A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2018 SCHEDULE
Miami will take part in 14 home matches this spring at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Miami’s first home match of the spring campaign begins at 3 p.m. on Feb. 2 with the Hurricanes taking on Georgia Southern.
Miami opens ACC competition on March 2 at 5 p.m. on the road against Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes’ first league match at home will place Miami against Wake Forest on March 23 at 3 p.m.
“We’re very excited about this year’s spring schedule,” Piric said. “We had a good fall season, but now we are looking forward to playing and competing as a team.”
RECAPPING A PROMISING 2017 FALL CAMPAIGN
-Freshman Adria Soriano won the White draw final of the CCB Collegiate Invitational on Nov. 12 to capture his second collegiate title. Earlier in the fall, Soriano won the Blue Draw singles title at Rice Invitational (Sept. 29-Oct. 1).
-Freshmen Adria Soriano and Bojan Jankulovski combined for 15 singles victories this past fall. Soriano tied for the team lead with eight singles wins, while Jankulovski totaled seven singles wins.
-Senior Christian Langmo and junior Dane Dunlap highlighted Day 3 competition at the 2017 Bedford Cup, as they captured the Doubles A bracket crown. The Miami duo defeated freshman teammates Adria Soriano and Bojan Jankulovski in the final.
-Freshman Bojan Jankulovski and senior Christian Langmo finished the fall portion of the 2017-18 season ranked 71st and 78th, respectively in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s National Singles Rankings.
FOLLOW US
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