Michigan
South Carolina
Week #2: Michigan Headed to North Carolina for ITA Kick-Off
1/24/2018 5:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» No. 17 Michigan is participating in the ITA Kick-Off for the second consecutive season. Joining U-M are No. 3 North Carolina, No. 20 South Carolina and Drake, with the winner receiving a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
» The Wolverines are 2-0 on the season following a 4-3 win over Washington and a 7-0 victory against Boise State.
» Senior Alex Knight is riding a seven-match win streak and is ranked No. 9 in the nation.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Jan. 27 -- vs. South Carolina (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 9 a.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28 -- vs. Drake or North Carolina (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 9:30 a.m. or 1 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (2-0) will head to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the ITA Kick-Off this weekend (Jan. 27-28). Joining U-M are No. 3 North Carolina (3-0), No. 20 South Carolina (4-0) and Drake (3-0) with a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line.
ABOUT THE ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND
The No. 1 team at each site will face the No. 4 team. The No. 2 team will face the No. 3 team. Two matches are guaranteed -- the winners/losers will play the following day. The 15 schools that win both of their matches at these events will be invited to play in the Feb. 16-19 ITA National Team Indoor Championship hosted by the University of Washington at Seattle Tennis Club.
• Michigan returns to the ITA Kick-Off for the second straight year after an absence in 2016.
Ranked Singles Players
No. 2 -- William Blumberg, North Carolina
No. 9 -- Alex Knight, Michigan
No. 20 -- Runhao Hua, Michigan
No. 57 -- Francisco Cerundolo, South Carolina
No. 63 -- Yancy Dennis, South Carolina
No. 70 -- Simon Soendergaard, North Carolina
No. 74 -- Gabriel Friedrich, South Carolina
No. 79 -- Joshua Peck, North Carolina
No. 94 -- Robert Kelly, North Carolina
No. 117 -- Thomas Mayronne, South Carolina
No. 124 -- Ben Clark, Drake
Ranked Doubles Teams
No. 3 -- William Blumberg/Robert Kelly, North Carolina
No. 19 -- Alex Knight/Runhao Hua, Michigan
• Michigan is looking for its first ITA National Team Indoor Championship berth since the 2008-09 season.
• The Wolverines kicked off dual-match play with a 4-3 win over Washington (Jan. 20) and followed that up with a 7-0 win over Boise State two days later (Jan. 22), bringing their record to 2-0 on the season.
• U-M senior Alex Knight enters the weekend on a seven-match win streak and ranked No. 9 by the ITA after straight-set victories over Mitch Stewart (Washington) and Matteo Tinelli (Boise State).
• Michigan's doubles pair of senior Alex Knight and sophomore Runhao Hua is ranked No. 19 by the ITA. The pair played at No. 1 in the first two matches, beating Washington's duo of Kawika Lam and Enzo Sommer in a tiebreaker and ending the match unfinished against Boise State because the Wolverines had already secured the doubles point.
• Michigan will open up the home portion of its schedule in two weeks, hosting No. 9 Florida on Friday, Feb. 9, at the Varsity Tennis Center.
NCAA RULES
Each team match will be a contest for the best of seven team points. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warmup, so fans are encouraged to arrive on time for matches. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two of three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point toward the team score. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action. In addition, there is to be no noise made between first and second serves this season as part of new ITA sportsmanship guidelines.
Players Mentioned
