Men's Tennis Set To Host Summit League Cluster
3/27/2008 12:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
The UMKC men's tennis team will return to Kansas City for its lone four
home matches of the season on Friday through Sunday at the Plaza Tennis
Center. The Kangaroos will open play on Friday against Oral Roberts at
9 a.m. followed by a 2 p.m. match-up with South Dakota State. The squad
will then face IUPUI at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Western Illinois at 1
p.m. on Sunday.
SUMMIT LEAGUE CLUSTER SCHEDULE - PLAZA TENNIS CENTER - KANSAS CITY
Friday, March 28
Oral Roberts vs. UMKC - 9 a.m.
South Dakota State vs. Centenary - 9 a.m.
IPFW vs. Centenary - 2 p.m.
South Dakota State vs. UMKC - 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 29
IPFW vs. South Dakota State - 9 a.m.
UMKC vs. IUPUI - 9 a.m.
Centenary vs. Oral Roberts - 1 p.m.
Western Illinois vs. IUPUI - 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 30
IPFW vs. Oral Roberts - 9 a.m.
Centenary vs. IUPUI - 9 a.m.
Western Illinois vs. UMKC - 1 p.m.
LAST MATCH
The Kangaroos played their best match of the season to close out its Colorado road trip. UMKC defeated Northern Colorado by the score of 6-1, as it won the doubles point and five-of-six singles matches in the competition. The Kangaroos opened the three-match road slate with a 4-3 victory over Rhode Island on March 20 before dropping a 6-1 decision to Air Force on March 22.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Oral Roberts, the reigning Mid-Con champion, enters Summit League play with an 0-5 team record on the spring. The Golden Eagles have dropped matches to Lamar (0-4), Arkansas-Little Rock (0-4), Oklahoma State (0-4), Louisiana-Lafayette (2-4) and New Mexico State (0-4) on the season.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
South Dakota State enters the weekend with a 4-8 overall record, but the Jacks have won four of their last seven matches. Last weekend, SDSU picked up three victories on its spring break trip to Florida. The squad topped Siena (5-2), Wagner College (7-0) and Taylor University (7-2).
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI brings a 2-12 overall record to the Plaza Tennis Center this weekend in Kansas City. The Jags have lost seven straight matches dating back to Feb. 16 with their last victory coming over Youngstown State, 6-1.
SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
Western Illinois brings an even 5-5 overall record into league play. The Leathernecks won the first second time in six matches on Wednesday, as they topped Bradley by a 4-0 scoreline in Peoria. WIU senior Martin Bostrom is leading the squad with a perfect 14-0 record this season, while No. 1 singles player Zach Frisch is a Kansas City, Mo., native.
SCHWARZ GOES 6-0 TO PACE UMKC IN COLORADO
Sophomore Dennis Schwarz posted a perfect 6-0 record last weekend to lead the Kangaroos to a pair of victories in the state of Colorado. The Germany native opened play with a three-set victory over Rhode Island's Adam Gart (5-7, 7-5, 7-5) to clinch UMKC's first win of the season. Schwarz then won two more matches for the team at the No. 4 position to run his winning streak to four. In doubles, Schwarz and Erwin Quintanilla also went undefeated with a 3-0 mark to run their season record to 4-3 this season.
FOUR KANGAROOS EARN FIRST SINGLES “W”
Sophomore Patrick Smith and freshman Serge Ristivojevic earned their first victories of the season in the 4-3 win over Rhode Island. Sophomore Erwin Quintanilla and freshman Nick Patonai, meanwhile, tallied their first victories in the 6-1 win over Northern Colorado. Ristivojevic and Patonai's wins were the first of their Kangaroo careers.
UMKC PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Kangaroos were picked to finish in fourth place in The Summit League Preseason Poll. The squad tallied 22 points in a vote of the league's head coaches. Oral Roberts received four first place votes en route to 34 points, as it was picked to repeat as the team champion.
NEW COACHES IN PLACE FOR KANGAROOS
Kendell Hale is in his first season as the head coach of the UMKC tennis program. Hale previously served the past 11 years as the head coach at Rockhurst University, where he led the Hawks to nine NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
Dante Cipulli joined Hale's staff in December after serving as a graduate assistant at Southwest Baptist University from 2005-07. As a player, Cipulli was a two-time ITA all-American at SBU, and he was named the ITA Player of the Year as a senior.
Players Mentioned
