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No. 6 Men’s Tennis preview: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
02.13.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns are the 5 seed in the tournament and face 2 seed Ohio State on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT in Chicago.
No. 6 Texas (5 seed) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (1 seed)
When: Sun., Feb. 17, 2019, 3:30 p.m. CT
Where: Midtown Athletic Club, Chicago, Ill.
Tournament Website: Click here
Tournament Bracket: Click here
Live Video (Account creation required): Click here
Live Stats: Click here
Notes
-Tournament Path (All Times Central)
Fri., Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m.: First Round – No. 6 Texas (5 seed) def. No. 14 Illinois (12 seed), 4-3
Sat., Feb. 16, 6:30 p.m.: Quarterfinals – No. 6 Texas (5 seed) def. No. 5 USC (13 seed), 4-0
Sun., Feb. 17, 3:30 p.m.: Semifinals – No. 6 Texas (5 seed) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (1 seed)
Mon., Feb. 18, 12 p.m.: Finals – Texas/Ohio State winner vs. No. 1 Wake Forest (3 seed)
Full Bracket
-Ohio State Series: Tied, 7-7
The teams have split the last two meetings with each winning on their home courts as Ohio State defeated Texas, 4-0, last year Columbus, while the Longhorns topped the Buckeyes, 4-3, the year before in Austin. Texas and Ohio State have met four times at the ITA Indoors (2011, '12, '14, '15) with the Buckeyes winning all four matches.
Last Meeting
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 13 Texas 0
Feb. 3, 2018 • Columbus, Ohio
Singles – Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5
1. No. 5 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. No. 27 Harrison Scott (UT), 6-1, 6-3
2. No. 60 J.J. Wolf (OSU) def. No. 37 Leonardo Telles (UT), 6-1, 6-0
3. Yuya Ito (UT) vs. No. 57 John McNally (OSU), 6-2, 4-5, unf.
4. Christian Sigsgaard (UT) vs. Tim Siebert (OSU), 6-4, 4-3, unf.
5. No. 102 Martin Joyce (OSU) def. No. 98 Rodrigo Banzer (UT), 6-3, 6-3
6. No. 26 Kyle Seelig (OSU) vs. Adrian Ortiz (UT), 6-4, 5-1, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1
1. Mikael Torpegaard/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. No. 5 Leonardo Telles/Rodrigo Banzer (UT), 6-4
2. Christian Sigsgaard/Adrian Ortiz (UT) vs. J.J. Wolf/John McNally (OSU), 6-6, susp.
3. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. No. 23 Yuya Ito/Harrison Scott (UT), 6-0
-Texas vs. Ohio State in the fall
ITA All-American Championship
54 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. 51 John McNally (OHS), 6-1, 6-2 (singles consolation championship)
58 Kyle Seelig (OHS) def. 61 Rodrigo Banzer (UT), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5)
29 Martin Joyce/Hunter Tubert (OHS) def. 11 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-2, 6-4
-USC Series: USC leads, 22-6
USC is on a five-match winning streak against Texas with the last win for the Longhorns coming in the 2010 ITA National Indoor Championship. The Longhorns and Trojans have met seven times in the ITA Indoors with USC leading in those, 4-3. The teams will also face off later this season on March 24 at 1 p.m. in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center.
Last Meeting
No. 11 USC 5, No. 10 Texas 2
March 14, 2018 • Los Angeles
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 4, 5, 2, 6, 1
1. No. 12 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #46 Yuya Ito (UT) - 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
2. Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #64 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-3, 5-7, 5-0 ret.
3. Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #60 Harrison Scott (UT) - 7-6 (4), 6-1
4. Jack Jaede (USC) def. #70 Leonardo Telles (UT) - 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
5. Riley Smith (USC) def. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) - 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
6. Adrian Ortiz (UT) def. Jake DeVine (USC) - 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1
1. No. 26 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) def. No. 3 Rodrigo Banzer/Leonardo Telles (UT) - 6-4
2. No. 52 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven (USC) def. Adrian Ortiz/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) - 6-1
3. Mateusz Smolicki/Tanner Smith (USC) vs. Yuya Ito/Colin Markes (UT) - 4-5 susp.
-Illinois Series: Texas leads, 6-3
This will be the first meeting between the teams since 2015 when No. 4 Illinois topped No. 8 Texas, 4-2 in Austin at the Caswell Tennis Center. They also met in 2014 at Illinois, which was a 4-3 win for No. 22 Illinois over No. 10 Texas. Prior to those, the Longhorns won six of the first seven matches, including a 4-3 victory in the 2011 ITA National Indoors in Seattle for No. 5 Texas over No. 8 Illinois.That was their only other meeting at the ITA Indoors.
Last Meeting
No. 4 Illinois 4, No. 8 Texas 2
March 14, 2015 in Austin, Texas (Caswell Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #2 Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. #18 Jared Hiltzik (ILL), 6-1, 6-4
2. #52 Lloyd Glasspool (UT) def. #32 Tim Kopinski (ILL), 6-2, 6-4
3. #76 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. #60 Adrien Berkowicz (UT), 6-4, 6-1
4. #49 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. George Goldhoff (UT), 6-2, 6-2
5. Nick Naumann (UT) vs. Toshiki Matsuya (ILL), 7-5, 4-6, 3-1, unfinished
6. Blake Bazarnik (ILL) def. John Mee (UT), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. Jared Hiltzik/Tim Kopinski (ILL) def. #35 Lloyd Glasspool/Soren Hess-Olesen (UT), 7-5
2. Blake Bazarnik/Brian Page (ILL) def. Adrien Berkowicz/George Goldhoff (UT), 6-3
3. Nick Naumann/Michael Riechmann (UT) def. Aron Hiltzik/Ross Guignon (ILL), 6-4
-Back at the ITA Indoors
The Longhorns are back at the ITA National Indoor Championship following a one-year absence in 2018. In 2017, No. 10 Texas posted a 2-1 record that included a 4-2 win over No. 7 Florida in the opening round, a hard-fought 4-3 defeat against No. 2 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals, and 4-2 win over No. 11 Oklahoma State in the consolation round.
-In the ITA Rankings
Texas is ranked No. 6 in the latest ITA Team rankings released Feb. 6. The Longhorns also had four different players individually listed with three in singles and one pair in doubles. Texas was one of two teams to have two singles players ranked in the Top 15, along with Ohio State.
Singles
No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard
No. 14 Yuya Ito
No. 91 Leonardo Telles
Doubles
No. 13 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard
-Ohio State in the ITA Rankings
Ohio State is No. 2 in the latest ITA Rankings and has five players ranked in singles and two doubles pairs.
Singles
No. 2 JJ Wolf
No. 12 Kyle Seelig
No. 62 John McNally
No. 86 Alex Kobelt
No. 101 Tim Seibert
Doubles
No. 7 Kyle Seelig/Alex Kobelt
No. t11 Hunter Tubert/Martin Joyce
-USC in the ITA Rankings
USC is No. 5 in the latest ITA Rankings and has seven players ranked in singles and one doubles pair.
Singles
No. 4 Daniel Cukierman
No. 31 Laurens Verboven
No. 39 Logan Smith
No. 50 Tanner Smith
No. 56 Brandon Holt
No. 94 Jake DeVine
No. 121 Bradley Frye
Doubles
No. 21 Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith
-Illinois in the ITA Rankings
Illinois is No. 14 in the latest ITA Rankings and has five players ranked in singles.
Singles
No. 23 Alex Brown
No. 24 Aleksandar Kovacevic
No. 30 Zeke Clark
No. 116 Caleb Chakravarthi
No. 125 Keenan Mayo
Doubles
N/A
-Fast start
With its win at Arkansas on Feb. 10, Texas moved to 9-0 for the season in dual match play. The 9-0 start is its best since starting 15-0 in 2002. It passes the 8-0 start the team posted in 2011. The Longhorns also had back-to-back 7-0 starts in 2014-15.
-On the road again
The Longhorns hit the road and took a pair of 6-1 wins at Tulsa and Arkansas for the first two of four road dual matches in the months of February and March sandwiched around the ITA National Indoor Championships. Following their trip to Chicago for the ITA Indoors (Feb. 15-18), they will travel to face No. 19 Tulane (Feb. 26) and No. 24 Georgia (March 3).
-Huang earns first career Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor
Freshman Chih Chi Huang earned his first career Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor on Feb. 5. Huang clinched the team's 5-2 win over No. 6 North Carolina in a third-set tiebreaker in fifth singles as a true freshman defeating UNC senior Blaine Boyden (6-4, 4-6, 7-6 [5]). He also paired with Yuya Ito to contribute to the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Brian Cernoch and Mac Kiger. Earlier in the week, Huang twice stepped into the third singles spot during a Wednesday doubleheader, picking up a win over Javier Rodriguez of UTSA (6-2, 4-6, 1-0 [8]), while having to leave his match against Thomas Rodrigues of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi unfinished on a match point after the team clinched. Huang also partnered with Ito for a 6-4 doubles win over UTSA to help the team earn that point en route to four wins for the week, including two in singles and two in doubles. Overall, Huang helped the team to a 3-0 record with a combined score of 15-3.
-Texas tops No. 6 North Carolina for third straight time
Texas played its first indoor match of the spring season against No. 6 North Carolina at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Feb. 2. The Longhorns took a thrilling 5-2 victory for their third straight win over the Tar Heels after claiming 4-3 victories in 2018 in Chapel Hill and in 2015 at Weller. In a match that came down to the wire, the top five singles matches all went to a third set with Texas winning four of them. The last time Texas had defeated a top-10 team, it was also a No. 6 North Carolina team in the 2018 match in Chapel Hill.
-Dual match success
So far this season, the Longhorns have compiled a 40-6 singles record and a 19-1 doubles mark in dual match play while getting off to an 9-0 start. Texas is outscoring its opponents 48-6 in its first seven matches.
-Year Two of the Texas Tennis Center
The Longhorns are in their second season at the Texas Tennis Center. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament. Texas opened its home season with a 6-1 win over SMU on January 20, and swept the ITA Kickoff Weekend with wins versus Washington and Miami (Fla.) before sweeping a doubleheader against UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to move to 5-0 at the Texas Tennis Center for the season.
-Texas wins ITA Kickoff Weekend and heads to National Indoor Championship
Texas punched its ticket to the ITA National Indoor Championship with 4-0 sweeps over Washington and Miami (Fla.) in the Austin ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 25-26. The ITA Indoors will take place in Chicago from Feb. 15-18. The Longhorns return to the national event after missing it in 2018 following a loss to Notre Dame in that year's Kickoff Weekend.
-Longhorns begin dual match play in Orlando
Texas topped Ole Miss in the first dual match of the 2019 season, 7-0, on Jan. 16 at the USTA National Campus Collegiate Center in Orlando, Fla. The Longhorns took all six singles points plus the doubles point without dropping a set. Texas now holds a 4-1 all-time dual match record against Ole Miss. It was the second time Texas and Ole Miss competed against each other in this first week of the spring season. The Longhorns posted 6-1 singles and 3-1 doubles marks against the Rebels in individual play at the Miami Invitational.
-Texas part of new college tennis technology
Texas' match versus Ole Miss was part of the United States Tennis Association Collegiate Series, which includes a total of 12 matches featuring 22 different teams throughout the season. It was the first of four matches in the series to be part of the introduction of the PlayFair Challenge System using PlaySight SmartCourt technology. The mission of PlayFair is to improve the level of sportsmanship throughout tennis with the goal of increasing participation in, enjoyment, and viewership of the sport. PlayFair is a feature of PlaySight's SmartCourt technology, enabling players to challenge line calls made by their opponents or an official's overrule using instant video replay (a concept in sports known as Video Assistant Refereeing, or VAR). Players and officials can review where the ball landed by looking at a multi-angle video replay on the PlaySight touchscreen kiosk or an iPad/tablet device. The other three contests will include the Florida State-Miami men's match on March 10, and two women's matches, Michigan-Duke on March 9 and Notre Dame-Iowa on March 12.
-Longhorns open season with individual play at Miami Invitational
Texas finished the Miami Invitational (Jan. 11-13) with an 18-5 singles record and an 11-1 doubles mark, earning more victories than its opponents (Miami, Ole Miss, Wisconsin) in each section of singles and doubles of the three-day tournament. In singles, the Longhorns finished with a 5-1 mark against Wisconsin, 7-3 against Miami, and 6-1 against Ole Miss, while in doubles they swept both Miami and Wisconsin in four matches and were 3-1 against Ole Miss.
-ITA Preseason Rankings
Texas was ranked No. 8 in the preseason Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Rankings released Jan. 9. It marked the second straight season the Longhorns have opened in that spot and they moved back into the Top 10 after finishing last season at No. 12. Texas was the top-rated Big 12 team in the poll, which featured five of the six conference members. Texas held that spot in each of the rankings released Jan. 23 and 30 before moving up to No. 6 after its win over then No. 6 North Carolina.
-Big 12 Preseason Rankings
The Big 12 Conference men's tennis coaches unanimously selected Texas as the No. 1 team in the preseason conference poll, the league announced on Jan. 8. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, so the Longhorns took all five first-place votes available to them and 25 points overall. Baylor and Oklahoma tied for second with 18 points.
-Defending Big 12 Champs
The Longhorns return a talented and experienced lineup that includes seven juniors or seniors back from its 2018 Big 12 title team, along with three newcomers. Head coach Michael Center enters his 19th season leading the team.
-Full records of the Longhorns' fall season can be found here (PDF)
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Players Mentioned
