WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary men's tennis team travels to the Sunshine State to take part in the 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Jan. 26-27. The Tribe faces No. 4 Florida in the opening round at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex and compete in the national event for the second time.
Louisville and FAU square off in the other first-round match-up. The consolation (9 a.m.) and finals (11 a.m.) of the regional are set for Sunday, Jan. 27, with the winner advancing to the ITA National Men's Tennis Indoor Championship, hosted by the University of Illinois at the Midtown Athletic Club, Feb. 15-18.
On the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
- The appearance in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend will be the Tribe's second. In 2011, the Green and Gold traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and split its pair of matches. W&M dropped its opener to No. 4-ranked Ohio State, before downing No. 69-ranked South Carolina, 4-0.
- Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2018 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order.
- The 15 regional site winners earn an invitation to the ITA National Men's Tennis Indoor Championship, hosted by the University of Illinois at the Midtown Athletic Club, Feb. 15-18.
Scouting the Tribe
- The Tribe opened the dual-match season with a 6-1 setback to No. 17 Virginia on Jan. 17, before taking part in the Virginia Tech Invitational, Jan. 19-21.
- At the Virginia Tech Invite, the Green and Gold won three of the top six singles spots against all three opponents, Middle Tennessee, Penn State and Virginia Tech. W&M also took three of four doubles matches against the Blue Raiders and host Hokies.
- Against Virginia Tech, the Tribe posted nationally-ranked wins at the top two doubles spots. Senior
Tristan Bautil and sophomore
Finbar Talcott upended No. 43-ranked team of Alex Ribeiro and Henrik Korsgaard, 7-5, at the top spot to wrap up the Invite at 2-1. Junior
Brenden Volk and sophomore
Chen Ruo rolled to a 6-1 win at the No. 2 spot, downing the No. 42-ranked Hokies pair of Carlo Donato and Mitch Harper. The Tribe tandem is 10-3 over the last two years.
- Sophomore
Sebastian Quiros continued his strong play at the Virginia Tech Invite, picking up wins over Middle Tennessee and Penn State at the No. 2 spot. In the Tribe's dual-match with Virginia, Quiros upset No. 38-ranked Gianni Ross in three sets for the program's highest-ranked dual-match win since 2010. Quiros is riding a seven-match win streak and leads the Tribe with a 12-5 record.
- Talcott went 2-1 at the Virginia Tech Invitational. He won at the No. 1 position against Middle Tennessee, before notching a straight-sets win at No. 2 against Virginia Tech to end the event.
- Freshmen
Jack Kelly and
Daniel Pellerito went 2-1 at Virginia Tech as well. Kelly picked up wins at the No. 5 position against both Middle Tennessee and Penn State, while Pellerito won at No. 6 against Penn State and No. 5 vs. Virginia Tech. Pellerito is 9-8 on the year and Kelly sits at 8-8.
- Senior
Michael Ruamthong improved to 10-5 on the year with a win a No. 6 against Virginia Tech at the Invite.
- W&M finished last season ranked No. 73 nationally. It was the Tribe's highest end of the year ranking since 2008. The Green and Gold was also ranked No. 6 in the ITA Atlantic Region in 2018.
- The Tribe's three-member freshman class of
Jack Kelly,
Daniel Pellerito and
Oren Vasser received votes for the national top 25 classes by the Tennis Recruiting Network and was ranked the No. 16 group in the Mid-Major Class Rankings All three freshmen garnered top-35 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Junior Combined Boys 18 Rankings during their prep careers and won numerous National and Sectional USTA events in both singles and doubles. Pellerito was ranked as high as No. 16 by the USTA followed by Vasser at No. 25 and Kelly at No. 35.
Scouting #4 Florida
- Florida has been ranked No. 4 in each of the first two Oracle/ITA Rankings of the dual-match season including the most recent on Wednesday. The Gators have been ranked in the top 25 for 17-straight years dating back to the 2003 campaign.
- The Gators open the 2019 dual-match season with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
- Last season, UF advanced to the Elite Eight, before falling to Texas A&M, 4-3. The Gators finished the year at 19-10, including 14 wins over ranked opponents. Florida, which ended the year ranked No. 10 nationally, went 9-3 in SEC play and finished third in the league.
- The Gators' lineup features five top-100 singles players and a trio a doubles teams ranked in the top 13. Oliver Crawford leads the nationally-ranked quintet at No. 9 followed by Andy Andrade (No. 37), Johannes Ingildsen (No. 46), Sam Riffice (No. 85) and Duarte Vale (No. 100).
- Andrade and Crawford lead the way in doubles at No. 8 in the country. Ingildsen and Brian Berdusco come in at No. 10 nationally followed by Riffice and Andrade at No. 13.
- Ingildsen advanced to the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships during the fall.
- In doubles, Andrade and Crawford earned a spot in the ITA All-American Championship semifinals. The duo of Ingildsen and Berdusco won an ITA Southeast Regional Championship.
Series History: W&M vs. Florida
- W&M and Florida met for the only time during the 2015 dual-match season in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators topped the Tribe, 9-3, in an expanded dual match.
Scouting Florida Atlantic
- The Owls are 3-3 on the year.
- FAU competed in the FSU Spring Invitational, Jan. 12-13, and posted wins over Nebraska (4-2) and North Florida (4-1). They wrapped up the event with a 4-0 setback to No. 20-ranked Florida State.
- The Owls split matches at the USTA National Campus Series in Orlando on Jan. 19. FAU opened the day with a 4-3 win over UNCW before falling to BYU, 4-2.
- Most recently, FAU suffered a 6-1 defeat at Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 21.
- In the victory over UNCW, the Owls dropped the doubles point before winning four of six singles matches. Kirac Bekisoglu (No. 2), Mehdi Laalej (No. 4), Ignacio Garcia (No. 5) and Alvaro Fernandez Horta (No. 6) posted victories.
- Fernandez Horta leads the Owls with a 4-1 dual-match record at No. 6. Laalej is 3-1 at No. 4. Bekisoglu owns a win at both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
- FAU finished last season at 19-10 and was ranked No. 61 nationally. The Owls advanced to the Conference USA Championship match before falling to ODU.
Series History: W&M vs. Florida Atlantic
- W&M and FAU split the previous two meetings with each winning by a 5-2 score.
- The Tribe topped the then-No. 58 Owls, 6-2, in 2003, while FAU downed the Green and Gold, 5-2, last season.
-
Finbar Talcott picked up one of the Tribe's two singles wins in the 2018 match-up at the No. 4 post over Ignacio Garcia.
Scouting Louisville
- The Cardinals enter the weekend at 3-1 on the year. They opened the season on Jan. 11 with a 6-1 win at Hawaii, before topping Butler (4-0) and Lipscomb (5-1) in a doubleheader on Jan. 18. Louisville dropped its ACC opener on Jan. 20 at No. 17 Virginia, 4-1.
- Louisville ended last season ranked No. 49 nationally and was No. 7 in the Ohio Valley region. The Cardinals finished the year at 15-11 overall and 5-7 in the ACC.
- Brandon Lancaster was ranked No. 104 nationally in the ITA Singles Rankings released in November. In doubles, Lancaster and George Hedley were rated No. 34 in the country.
- Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff, who missed most of the fall due to injury, is the Cardinals top returning player. He finished last year ranked No. 69 nationally and took part in the NCAA Singles Championship. Morin-Kougoucheff is a two-time All-ACC selection and was No. 36 nationally during the preseason.
Series History: W&M vs. Louisville
- The Cardinals lead the all-time series with W&M at 5-2, but the Tribe has won the last two match-ups between the programs.
- The Tribe posted a 4-3 win over then-No. 49 Louisville in Kentucky in 2007. Less than a week later, the Green and Gold downed the Cardinals, 4-0, during the Blue Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala.
