SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After clinching two shutout victories on the first day of action of 2015, the No. 57 Santa Clara men's tennis team is now gearing up for the ITA Kick-Off set to be held in Los Angeles this weekend.
The Broncos will square off against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on Friday at 10am followed by a matchup with either the defending champions from the University of Southern California or Ragin' Cajuns from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette the following afternoon. The nationwide ITA Kick-Off Weekend event, held at various locations around the country, features the best squads based on last season's results.
Depending on Santa Clara's Friday result, the team will either play in the consolation match at 2pm or the championship match set for 5pm on Saturday. The winner of the four-team bracket will advance to compete in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships scheduled for mid-February.
The Broncos
Santa Clara enters this weekend's tournament boasting a 2-0 record after shutting down UCSC and Sonoma State 4-0 in both matches this past Saturday. Early on in both matches, the Broncos received a lift from newcomers Max Heerinckx and Michael Standifer. The duo of former Bellarmine Bells won both of their doubles matches to get Santa Clara on the board in prime position to capture the all-important doubles point. Transitioning to singles, the Broncos were powered by veterans Ashot Khacharyan, Ilya Osintsev, Mikheil Khmiadashvili and Sam Bertram. All four competitors rolled to straight set victories during one or both matches to ignite Santa Clara to a quick unbeaten start on the year.
At last year's ITA Kick-Off, Santa Clara opened up play against USC but fell to a Trojan squad that would go on to be crowned as the national champions. Despite the defeat, the Broncos rallied to defeat Georgia State University 4-0 in the consolation match the following day.
UNC Wilmington
The Seahawks will arrive in Los Angeles as the No. 50 ranked squad in the nation come Friday. 2-0 on the year, Wilmington downed two North Carolina foes in their opening matches of the spring season last week. The Seahawks cruised past Appalachian State University 7-0 in their opener and followed that performance with a 7-0 rout of Gardner-Webb University two days later, never giving up a set in both singles and doubles in the process.
Wilmington's seven players that suited up to play in their opening matches of the season included one senior, two juniors and four freshmen. Despite competing in their first collegiate dual matches, the four freshmen all came away with straight set victories on both days of competition.
In last year's ITA Kick-Off, the Seahawks were defeated by the Gators from the then-No. 14 ranked University of Florida and were then taken down by No. 35 Florida State University by a score of 4-0.
Louisiana-Lafayette
The Ragin' Cajuns from Louisiana-Lafayette enter the weekend ranked No. 73 after starting out 2-2 in the spring season. In their last match, the Ragin' Cajuns fell in their home opener 4-3 to Lamar University. Lafayette claimed the doubles points to grab the early advantage but the Cardinals from Lamar regrouped in singles to steal the match on Lousiana-Lafayette's home court.
Lafayette's nine man roster includes one senior, two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. Vlad Kramarov, a 6-5 freshman from Ukraine, is off to a fast 3-1 start in his first collegiate season competing at various positions in Lafayette's lineup. Upperclassmen Damian Farinola and Jake Wynan both come in with two wins to go along with one loss.
The Ragin' Cajuns will open up Friday with a challenging matchup against USC on the Trojans' home courts.
USC
The Trojans enter this weekend's competition as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. USC is 1-0 on the season after a 6-1 win over the University of California, Riverside. Despite the wide margin of victory, the Trojans surrendered the doubles point to the Highlanders and found themselves in a hole early on in their season opened. Singles wins on courts two, five, one and four eventually handed USC its first victory of the year.
USC boasts a roster consisting of five ranked players in the ITA's Top 125 singles list as of the January 6th rankings. Nick Crystal, ranked No. 58, was the only Trojan to suit up in the squad's victory over UC Riverside. The Trojans also field the No. 1 ranked doubles duo of Yannick Hanfmann and Robert Quiroz. In the fall, the pairing came away with the ITA National Indoor doubles championship.
The Trojans have been the kings of the courts throughout their storied program history, racking up an NCAA record 21 national championships with their most recent coming last spring after coming back to defeat the University of Oklahoma 4-2.
Be sure to check on SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on Santa Clara's performance at the ITA Kick-Off. Stay up to date with everything men's tennis on Facebook and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!
