ncaa-notes-07 - Texas Tech University - Texas Tech Athletics
ENNIS 2007 TEXAS TECH MEN’S TENNIS • Tennis Contact • Felicia Michael • O:(806) 742-2770 • C:(806)252-0948 • [email protected] •
Red Raiders return to NCAA tournament
Sitting last season out, the No. 36 Texas Tech Red Raiders fought their way back into the NCAA Tennis Championships. Finishing the regular season 13-9, 2-4 in the Big 12 Conference, the team travels to Los Angeles to play in the UCLA region of this year’s bracket. Tech faces No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth in the first round on Fri., April 11, at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The second round will see the winner between Tech and VCU taking on either No. 9 UCLA or No. 66 UNLV.
The Line-up
Filling the No. 1 spot this season is junior Bojan Szumanski. Currently ranked 33, he is 8-9 in dual matches, 20-12 overall. After sitting out last season with an injury, he finds himself back in the mix as he was chosen to participate in this year’s NCAA Individual Championships in Athens, Ga. Leading his team at No. 2 this season is senior Dimitrio Martinez. The Red Raider captain has had a successful senior campaign holding a 19-11 overall record this season. He found himself in the rankings after being the catalyst on two occasions, including taking down Baylor’s No. 16 Michal Kokta. Playing at No. 3 is sophomore Sinisa Markovic, who this season alone has had one of the most successful campaigns as a Red Raider. He went undefeated in conference play 6-0, and holds a 15-3 duals record, 25-8 overall this season. At No. 4 is Michael Breler, who began this season at No. 5 winning his first 10 matches. He sat out against VCU earlier in the season due to illness, but is one of Tech’s strongest clutch players with a 17-12 record this season. Finding his nitch at No. 5 is Christian Rojmar. He currently is 10-10 on the season, but has gone 4-1 in the five spot. Rounding off the sixth position is newcomer Milos Kustudija. Kustudija debuted in the No. 6 spot where he has compiled an impressive 10-8 record this season.
in the rankings
Tech entered this season ranked No. 44, with two players, Szumanski and Markovic, ranked No. 12 and 92 respectively. At the end of February, the men’s team broke into the top 25 receiving their highest ranking of the season of 22. The Raiders currently sit at No. 36. Szumanski is now ranked No. 37 in singles, with Martinez coming in 87 in the latest ITA rankings. Also recognized in doubles are Szumanski and Rojmar who sit at No. 33 with a record of 9-6, having played eight ranked doubles pairs this season.
• 2007 Schedule • 2/2/07 Prairie View W, 4-0 Samford W, 7-0 2/3/07 #62 Denver DNF, 3-3 2/9/07 #42 Louisville W, 4-1 2/10/07 #34 Middle Tenn. State W, 4-1 2/11/07 #17 Washington L, 4-1 2/17/07 #30 Rice W, 4-3 2/27/07 Abilene Christian W, 7-0 3/2/07 Texas-Pan American W, 5-0 #50 Western Michigan W, 4-1 3/3/07 #32 Southern Alabama L, 4-3 3/16/07 #25 Virginia Commonwealth L, 4-1 #52 Brown W, 4-1 3/17/07 #38 Texas A&M-CC L, 4-0 3/25/07 #75 Nebraska* W, 4-3 3/30/07 #33 Texas A&M* L, 5-2 4/1/07 #12 Texas* L, 4-3 4/6/07 Lamar University W, 4-0 4/8/07 New Mexico State W, 6-0 4/15/07 #4 Baylor* L, 4-3 4/22/07 #7 Oklahoma State* 1 PM 4/26/07 #28 Oklahoma* L, 4-3 4/27/07 #11 Texas L, 4-2 5/11-13/07 NCAA Tournament All Day * indicates Big 12 Conference match
• 2007 ROSTER •
Michael Breler (bray-ler)........................................................SO ..........................Malmo, Sweden/Korrespondensgymnasiet Teddy DiBlasi.........................................................................SR ................................. West Columbia, Texas/Columbia H.S. Greg Jones............................................................................ JR........................................ Sugar Land, Texas/Clements H.S. Milos Kustudija (mee-low-sh kus-tood-E-a)...........................SO................................................................... Novi Sad, Serbia Sinisa Markovic (sin-ish-a mark-o-vich).................................SO...........................................Banja Luka, Bosnia/Nicola Tesla Dimitrio Martinez (dim-mee-trio mar-teen-ez)........................SR......................... Saltillo, Mexico/U.A.N.L. Preparatoria No. 2 Christian Rojmar (roy-mar)....................................................SO.......................... Stockholm, Sweden/De Lagardiegymnaset Bojan Szumanski (boy-on shoe-man-ski).............................. JR .................. Opole, Poland/Z.L.O.im.Stefana Wyszynskiego James Wilson........................................................................SO................................ Boerne, Texas/St. Stephen’s Episcopal Jay Wofford...........................................................................SO............................................ Lubbock, Texas/Coronado H.S.
• SCOUTING THE OPPONENT •
• GENERAL INFORMATION • Name of School ........................................................Texas Tech City/Zip.........................................................Lubbock, TX 79409 Founded..............................................................................1923 Enrollment........................................................................29,000 Nickname.................................................................Red Raiders School Colors..................................................Scarlet and Black Facility.....................................................McLeod Tennis Center Affiliation.......................................................................... NCAA I Conference........................................................................Big 12 Chancellor................................................................ Kent Hance President......................................................... Dr. Jon Whitmore Athletics Director................................................... Gerald Myers Athletic Dept. Phone........................................... (806) 742-3355
#24 Virginia Commonwealth
May 11, 2007 @ 10 a.m.
This will be the second meeting between the Rams and the Red Raiders. The first time was at the Blue-Gray College Classic in March. Tech suffered a first-round loss to VCU, falling 4-1. The Rams boast two ranked freshman, No. 98 Arnaud Le Cloerec and No. 109 Petr Olsak. The two also lead in doubles for their team ranked No. 35. VCU leads the series over the Raiders 2-0, as they currently hold an 18-8 record this season.
• MEDIA RELATIONS •
#9 UCLA Bruins #66 UNLV Rebels
May 12, 2007
The second round of the NCAA Tournament will see the winner between UCLA and UNLV, and TTU and VCU. UCLA is the host of the first and second rounds, proving themselves the team to beat to advance to Athens, Ga. The Bruins have three ranked singles players, including No. 4 junior Benjamin Kohloeffel, No. 28 freshman Haythem Abid, and No. 47 junior Chris Surapol. Their No. 1 doubles duo of Phillip Gruendler and Kohloeffel sit ranked 14 nationally. They currently sit 19-3 overall. The UNLV Rebels enter the tournament 1313 this season, suffering several losses by a one point margin. Their No. 1 singles player is sophomore Elliot Wronski, who is currently ranked No. 60.
Doubles Action
Media Relations Director........................................... Chris Cook Tennis SID........................................................... Felicia Michael E-mail.....................................................felicia.michael@ttu.edu Office phone....................................................... (806) 742-2770 Cell Phone.......................................................... (806) 252-0948 Media Relations Fax........................................... (806) 742-1970 Media Relations Mailing Address...............................Box 43021 Lubbock, TX 79409 Overnight Address.................................................. 6th & Boston Lubbock, TX 79409
• COACHING STAFF• Head Coach................................................................Tim Siegel Alma Mater/Year.................................................Arkansas, 1986 Record at school (yrs.)........................................... 193-165 (17) Career record (yrs.)................................................ 221-188 (19) Tennis Office Phone........................................... (806) 742-3355 Best time to reach coach......................................... Contact SID Asst. Coach (Alma Mater/Year)............................. Petar Danolic Texas Tech, 1999
• TEAM INFORMATION •
Tech’s doubles this season have proven themselves on more than one occasion. At No. 1 is the No. 33 ranked duo of Szumanski and Rojmar, who currently sit 9-6, 6-3 on the road. With playing at a neutral site their favor, the two beat VCU’s No. 35 pair earlier this season, 8-6.
Overall record last year......................................................13-11 Conference record/finish.................................................2-5/t6th Final Ranking last year (poll).......................................... 48 (ITA) Letterwinners returning/lost....................................................7/1 Newcomers................................................................................1
At No. 2 are sophomores Breler and Markovic, who hold a record of 7-7 going into the weekend. The two sit 3-1 in clinching victories this season, including an impressive seven game rally over Oklahoma State to win the doubles point 9-7. Playing in the clean-up spot is the senior duo of Teddy DiBlasi and Martinez. As they head towards the end of their Red Raider careers, they too have proved to be a major catalyst for Tech with a 8-6 duals record. They are looking for revenge as they suffered a 9-7 loss to VCU’s Lindren and Ripoll in their last meeting.
Live stats
Live stats will be available via UCLA’s team Web site at http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/ucla-mtennis-scoreboard.html.
The Big 12 Conference
Of the seven men’s tennis programs in the Big 12, six found themselves in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. No. 4 Baylor leads the way, followed by No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Texas, No. 26 Oklahoma, No. 35 Texas A&M and No. 36 Texas Tech.
NCAA Tournament
Tech finished 2-4 and tied for fourth in the Big 12 with Nebraska and Oklahoma, receiving the sixth seed in this year’s Big 12 Tournament. Coming off a 4-3 loss the day prior to the conference championships in a make-up match with OU, Tech was unable to muster up momentum to push themselves past the Longhorns falling 4-2 in the first round.
Los angeles, Ca. may 11 & 12, 2007
First & second round
The Red Raiders have faced 17 ranked opponents this season, six of them coming from the Big 12. In perhaps the biggest upset in program history, the Raiders rallied to pull off a 4-3 upset over No. 7 OSU in Lubbock, after narrowly missing the No. 4 Bears the week before.
Red Raiders return to NCAA tournament
Sitting last season out, the No. 36 Texas Tech Red Raiders fought their way back into the NCAA Tennis Championships. Finishing the regular season 13-9, 2-4 in the Big 12 Conference, the team travels to Los Angeles to play in the UCLA region of this year’s bracket. Tech faces No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth in the first round on Fri., April 11, at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The second round will see the winner between Tech and VCU taking on either No. 9 UCLA or No. 66 UNLV.
The Line-up
Filling the No. 1 spot this season is junior Bojan Szumanski. Currently ranked 33, he is 8-9 in dual matches, 20-12 overall. After sitting out last season with an injury, he finds himself back in the mix as he was chosen to participate in this year’s NCAA Individual Championships in Athens, Ga. Leading his team at No. 2 this season is senior Dimitrio Martinez. The Red Raider captain has had a successful senior campaign holding a 19-11 overall record this season. He found himself in the rankings after being the catalyst on two occasions, including taking down Baylor’s No. 16 Michal Kokta. Playing at No. 3 is sophomore Sinisa Markovic, who this season alone has had one of the most successful campaigns as a Red Raider. He went undefeated in conference play 6-0, and holds a 15-3 duals record, 25-8 overall this season. At No. 4 is Michael Breler, who began this season at No. 5 winning his first 10 matches. He sat out against VCU earlier in the season due to illness, but is one of Tech’s strongest clutch players with a 17-12 record this season. Finding his nitch at No. 5 is Christian Rojmar. He currently is 10-10 on the season, but has gone 4-1 in the five spot. Rounding off the sixth position is newcomer Milos Kustudija. Kustudija debuted in the No. 6 spot where he has compiled an impressive 10-8 record this season.
in the rankings
Tech entered this season ranked No. 44, with two players, Szumanski and Markovic, ranked No. 12 and 92 respectively. At the end of February, the men’s team broke into the top 25 receiving their highest ranking of the season of 22. The Raiders currently sit at No. 36. Szumanski is now ranked No. 37 in singles, with Martinez coming in 87 in the latest ITA rankings. Also recognized in doubles are Szumanski and Rojmar who sit at No. 33 with a record of 9-6, having played eight ranked doubles pairs this season.
• 2007 Schedule • 2/2/07 Prairie View W, 4-0 Samford W, 7-0 2/3/07 #62 Denver DNF, 3-3 2/9/07 #42 Louisville W, 4-1 2/10/07 #34 Middle Tenn. State W, 4-1 2/11/07 #17 Washington L, 4-1 2/17/07 #30 Rice W, 4-3 2/27/07 Abilene Christian W, 7-0 3/2/07 Texas-Pan American W, 5-0 #50 Western Michigan W, 4-1 3/3/07 #32 Southern Alabama L, 4-3 3/16/07 #25 Virginia Commonwealth L, 4-1 #52 Brown W, 4-1 3/17/07 #38 Texas A&M-CC L, 4-0 3/25/07 #75 Nebraska* W, 4-3 3/30/07 #33 Texas A&M* L, 5-2 4/1/07 #12 Texas* L, 4-3 4/6/07 Lamar University W, 4-0 4/8/07 New Mexico State W, 6-0 4/15/07 #4 Baylor* L, 4-3 4/22/07 #7 Oklahoma State* 1 PM 4/26/07 #28 Oklahoma* L, 4-3 4/27/07 #11 Texas L, 4-2 5/11-13/07 NCAA Tournament All Day * indicates Big 12 Conference match
• 2007 ROSTER •
Michael Breler (bray-ler)........................................................SO ..........................Malmo, Sweden/Korrespondensgymnasiet Teddy DiBlasi.........................................................................SR ................................. West Columbia, Texas/Columbia H.S. Greg Jones............................................................................ JR........................................ Sugar Land, Texas/Clements H.S. Milos Kustudija (mee-low-sh kus-tood-E-a)...........................SO................................................................... Novi Sad, Serbia Sinisa Markovic (sin-ish-a mark-o-vich).................................SO...........................................Banja Luka, Bosnia/Nicola Tesla Dimitrio Martinez (dim-mee-trio mar-teen-ez)........................SR......................... Saltillo, Mexico/U.A.N.L. Preparatoria No. 2 Christian Rojmar (roy-mar)....................................................SO.......................... Stockholm, Sweden/De Lagardiegymnaset Bojan Szumanski (boy-on shoe-man-ski).............................. JR .................. Opole, Poland/Z.L.O.im.Stefana Wyszynskiego James Wilson........................................................................SO................................ Boerne, Texas/St. Stephen’s Episcopal Jay Wofford...........................................................................SO............................................ Lubbock, Texas/Coronado H.S.
• SCOUTING THE OPPONENT •
• GENERAL INFORMATION • Name of School ........................................................Texas Tech City/Zip.........................................................Lubbock, TX 79409 Founded..............................................................................1923 Enrollment........................................................................29,000 Nickname.................................................................Red Raiders School Colors..................................................Scarlet and Black Facility.....................................................McLeod Tennis Center Affiliation.......................................................................... NCAA I Conference........................................................................Big 12 Chancellor................................................................ Kent Hance President......................................................... Dr. Jon Whitmore Athletics Director................................................... Gerald Myers Athletic Dept. Phone........................................... (806) 742-3355
#24 Virginia Commonwealth
May 11, 2007 @ 10 a.m.
This will be the second meeting between the Rams and the Red Raiders. The first time was at the Blue-Gray College Classic in March. Tech suffered a first-round loss to VCU, falling 4-1. The Rams boast two ranked freshman, No. 98 Arnaud Le Cloerec and No. 109 Petr Olsak. The two also lead in doubles for their team ranked No. 35. VCU leads the series over the Raiders 2-0, as they currently hold an 18-8 record this season.
• MEDIA RELATIONS •
#9 UCLA Bruins #66 UNLV Rebels
May 12, 2007
The second round of the NCAA Tournament will see the winner between UCLA and UNLV, and TTU and VCU. UCLA is the host of the first and second rounds, proving themselves the team to beat to advance to Athens, Ga. The Bruins have three ranked singles players, including No. 4 junior Benjamin Kohloeffel, No. 28 freshman Haythem Abid, and No. 47 junior Chris Surapol. Their No. 1 doubles duo of Phillip Gruendler and Kohloeffel sit ranked 14 nationally. They currently sit 19-3 overall. The UNLV Rebels enter the tournament 1313 this season, suffering several losses by a one point margin. Their No. 1 singles player is sophomore Elliot Wronski, who is currently ranked No. 60.
Doubles Action
Media Relations Director........................................... Chris Cook Tennis SID........................................................... Felicia Michael E-mail.....................................................felicia.michael@ttu.edu Office phone....................................................... (806) 742-2770 Cell Phone.......................................................... (806) 252-0948 Media Relations Fax........................................... (806) 742-1970 Media Relations Mailing Address...............................Box 43021 Lubbock, TX 79409 Overnight Address.................................................. 6th & Boston Lubbock, TX 79409
• COACHING STAFF• Head Coach................................................................Tim Siegel Alma Mater/Year.................................................Arkansas, 1986 Record at school (yrs.)........................................... 193-165 (17) Career record (yrs.)................................................ 221-188 (19) Tennis Office Phone........................................... (806) 742-3355 Best time to reach coach......................................... Contact SID Asst. Coach (Alma Mater/Year)............................. Petar Danolic Texas Tech, 1999
• TEAM INFORMATION •
Tech’s doubles this season have proven themselves on more than one occasion. At No. 1 is the No. 33 ranked duo of Szumanski and Rojmar, who currently sit 9-6, 6-3 on the road. With playing at a neutral site their favor, the two beat VCU’s No. 35 pair earlier this season, 8-6.
Overall record last year......................................................13-11 Conference record/finish.................................................2-5/t6th Final Ranking last year (poll).......................................... 48 (ITA) Letterwinners returning/lost....................................................7/1 Newcomers................................................................................1
At No. 2 are sophomores Breler and Markovic, who hold a record of 7-7 going into the weekend. The two sit 3-1 in clinching victories this season, including an impressive seven game rally over Oklahoma State to win the doubles point 9-7. Playing in the clean-up spot is the senior duo of Teddy DiBlasi and Martinez. As they head towards the end of their Red Raider careers, they too have proved to be a major catalyst for Tech with a 8-6 duals record. They are looking for revenge as they suffered a 9-7 loss to VCU’s Lindren and Ripoll in their last meeting.
Live stats
Live stats will be available via UCLA’s team Web site at http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/ucla-mtennis-scoreboard.html.
The Big 12 Conference
Of the seven men’s tennis programs in the Big 12, six found themselves in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. No. 4 Baylor leads the way, followed by No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Texas, No. 26 Oklahoma, No. 35 Texas A&M and No. 36 Texas Tech.
NCAA Tournament
Tech finished 2-4 and tied for fourth in the Big 12 with Nebraska and Oklahoma, receiving the sixth seed in this year’s Big 12 Tournament. Coming off a 4-3 loss the day prior to the conference championships in a make-up match with OU, Tech was unable to muster up momentum to push themselves past the Longhorns falling 4-2 in the first round.
Los angeles, Ca. may 11 & 12, 2007
First & second round
The Red Raiders have faced 17 ranked opponents this season, six of them coming from the Big 12. In perhaps the biggest upset in program history, the Raiders rallied to pull off a 4-3 upset over No. 7 OSU in Lubbock, after narrowly missing the No. 4 Bears the week before.
