WACO, Texas – The No. 56 Old Dominion men’s tennis team (0-2) fell to No. 70 UC Irvine (2-2) by a 4-0 score in the consolation match of the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Sunday in the Hurd Tennis Center on the campus of Baylor University.
Like the Monarchs, Conference USA Freshman of the Year Adam Moundir faced his second consecutive nationally ranked opponent in just two in UC Irvine’s Sebastian Heim. Despite a hard fought match from Moundir on Court No. 1, it was Heim who managed to pull out a 7-6(7-3), 6-2 victory on Sunday in Texas.
A total of 60 teams competed in this years eighth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. In order to compete in the tournament teams need to finish the previous season ranked within the top 75. The Old Dominion men’s tennis team finished the 2015 season nationally ranked No. 57 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, which is the program’s highest year-end ranking since 2007. The Monarchs finished the 2015 season with a 16-3 overall record, while knocking off three nationally ranked opponents in the process: No. 60 Elon (7-0), No. 66 South Alabama (4-3) and No. 75 Rice (4-2).
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend sends three visiting schools to a host site for a four-team tournament. The host school faces the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed plays the No. 3 seed. The winner of the four-team tournament will head to the ITA Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship hosted by the University of Virginia on Feb. 12-15.
The Tennis Monarchs will look to build upon playing two nationally ranked teams in two days, when they take on the Richmond Spiders (1:00 p.m.) and then the Norfolk State Spartans (6:00 p.m.) at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on Friday, Jan. 29.
Tennis Match Results
UC Irvine vs Old Dominion
Jan. 24, 2016 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#70 UC Irvine 4, #56 Old Dominion 0
Singles competition
1. #119 Heim, Sebastian (UCI) def. Adam Moundir (ODU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
2. Michael Weindl (ODU) vs. Mertens, Nico (UCI) unfinished
3. Pham, Tyler (UCI) def. Jacob Nicolussi (OD) 6-4, 6-0
4. Javier Jover Maestre (OUD) vs. Marquard, Luca (UCI) unfinished
5. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) vs. Agbayani, Justin (UCI) unfinished
6. Bajpai, Vatsal (UCI) def. Zvonimir Podvinski (ODU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: Singles 3, 6, 1
Doubles competition
1. Agbayani, Justin/Poon, Jonathan (UCI) def. #28 Aziz Kijametovic/Adam Moundir (ODU) 6-4
2. Michael Weindl/Jacob Nicolussi (ODU) vs. Hammel, Jonathan/Pham, Tyler (UCI) unfinished
3. Heim, Sebastian/Mertens, Nico (UCI) def. Javier Jover Maestre/Zvonimir Podvinski (ODU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1
Match Notes:
UC Irvine 2-2; National ranking #70
Old Dominion 0-2; National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,6,1)
ITA Kickoff Weekend Match Three - Consolation
Tournament seeds: Old Dominion (3), UC Irvine (4)
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