COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Old Dominion men’s tennis team (5-0) will compete in the ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend, which takes place Jan. 27-29, 2017, on the campus of Ohio State. The Tennis Monarchs received a No. 3 seed and will first take-on No. 2 seeded Denver (1-0). Each regional consists of four teams, as No. 3 nationally ranked Ohio State (3-0) is the No. 1 seed and Utah (2-0) is the No. 4 seed. The two winners will square off for a chance to advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships, hosted by Virginia.
There are 15 "regionals" played being played this week. In all, there are 60 teams competing in the Kick-Off Weekend events. The winners of each regional single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships.
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2015-16 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.
Opening round contests at each location pits the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed against the No. 3 seed. The two winners advance to the following day's championship match, while the two losing teams will square off in a consolation match.
To view Kick-Off Weekend matchups for both men and women, visit the official event page HERE. Results for each site will be updated throughout the weekend.
For a complete look at the ITA Singles, Doubles and Team Rankings, please CLICK HERE.
Ohio State University**
Surface: Indoors
# of Courts: 6
Schedule of Play:
Fri, Jan. 27 - 10am (1v4) Men's Match
Fri, Jan. 27 - 2pm (2v3) Men's Match
Sat, Jan. 28 - 4pm (Championship) Men's Match
Sun, Jan 29 - 9am (Consolation) Men's Match
Breakdown of (Possible) Opponents:
Ohio State: Host team for this regional; matches will be played Indoors.
Started 2017: 3-0
Men’s Team ranked No. 3 currently.
Coach: Ty Tucker Head Coach/Director of Tennis
Became the head coach in ’99, and named director of tennis in 2012. Has lead OSU to 11 consecutive Big Ten regular-season titles (2006-16) and won 9 of the last 11 conference tournaments.
Two players in top 5 of individual ranking:
No. 2 Mikael Torpegaard – 6’4’’ 185- Junior- Virum, Denmark
Ended the 2015-2016 season with a record of 34-5 in singles play. He finished runner-up in ITA National Indoor Championships. He spent the final 5 weeks of last season and all of fall 2016 as No. 1.
No. 5 Hugo Di Feo – 5’9’’ 140- Junior- Montreal, Canada
Opened the year at No. 33, but after a runner-up finish at ITA All-American Championships and making it into the round of 16 in the Indoor Championship saw his ranking climb. Finished 6-2 in singles, 4-3 in doubles in the fall of 2016.
No. 33 Herkko Pollanen – 6’2’’ 178- Senior- Helsinki, Finland
Finished as the top player for the fall with a record of 8-2 and is currently ranked #33 for the spring.
No. 53 Martin Joyce - 6’3’’ 175- Sophomore- Hinsdale, Ill.
Denver:
2017 Record: 1-0
Denver was voted the preseason favorite to win a fourth straight Summit League Men’s Tennis Championship. The Pioneers claimed both the regular season and tournament titles in each of their first three seasons in the league.
Head Coach: Ricardo Rubio
Second season as head coach, led Denver to a Summit League Championship and birth into the NCAA Tournament in his first season.
Doubles:
No. 18 Alex Gasson and Yannick James
Recently ranked No. 18 after a strong fall record of 8-3 and an appearance in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. Jumped 24 spots up from their preseason ranking.
Singles:
Diogo Rocha – Senior- Lisbon, Portugal
Diogo was named the 2016 Summit Player of the Year going 16-6. He was 5-0 in league single matches. He is the leagues career leader in win percentage and needs just 4 wins in 2017 to become the all-time leader
Utah:
2017 Record: 2-0
Head Coach: Roeland Branteau
Branteau is in his second season as head coach of the Utes.