Men's Tennis Set To Play Three Road Matches
4/8/2008 3:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
The UMKC men's tennis team will play three matches this week to close out its regular season slate. The Kangaroos will play their final non-league match at Arkansas on Wednesday beginning at 1 p.m.. The squad will then travel to Macomb, Ill., for a Summit League cluster where it will face off against Centenary on Friday at 1 p.m. and IPFW on Saturday at 9 a.m.
LAST MATCH
The Kangaroos dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Western Illinois on March 30 at the Plaza Tennis Center. UMKC fell behind 3-0 to the Leathernecks, but the squad battled back to tie the contest behind singles victories from Dennis Schwarz, Serge Ristivojevic and Patrick Smith. In the deciding match, the Kangaroos lost a tight three-set decision at the No. 4 position when Erwin Quintanilla fell to Francisco Ortiz, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5.
SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters Wednesday's match with a 10-12 overall record and a 2-6 mark in SEC play. The Razorbacks, who were ranked No. 41 in the ITA team rankings on Mar. 25, have dropped six straight matches to ranked teams, three of which were among the top-10. UA's last victory came on March 16 at Hawaii (4-3).
SCOUTING THE GENTS
Centenary enters the weekend with a 2-11 overall record and an 0-4 mark in league play. The Gents have lost five straight matches since topping Grambling (4-3) on March 11. No. 5 singles player Seva Kostelanetz has the top record on the squad with a 6-9 mark on the year.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
IPFW enters cluster play with a 10-10 overall record and a 2-1 mark in Summit League play. The Mastodons have won two-of-their-last three matches, as they topped Centenary (7-0) and South Dakota State (5-2) before dropping a 4-1 decision to Oral Roberts on March 30. Prior to heading to Macomb, IPFW will play at Illinois-Chicago on April 9.
LOOKING AT THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Kangaroos sit in excellent shape to advance to The Summit League Championships. UMKC currently is in fourth place with a 2-2 overall record with a pair of matches left to play. The Kangaroos will face off against winless Centenary and IPFW, who is ahead of them in the standings, this weekend in Macomb. The top four teams in the standings advance to the Championship in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Apr. 25-26.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Sophomore Dennis Schwarz is in the midst of a seven-match winning streak dating back to March 15. The Germany native has won all seven matches in straight sets while splitting time between the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Schwarz and Erwin Quintanilla, meanwhile, posted a five-match winning streak at the No. 2 doubles position from March 20-29. The streak came to a halt in an 8-5 loss to WIU's Martin Bostrom and Neil Lesinski on March 30.
SMITH EXCELLING AT THE TWO
Sophomore Patrick Smith has been playing solid tennis for the Kangaroos at the No. 2 singles position and at No. 1 doubles. The Germany native has won three straight singles matches, which included a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over WIU's Martin Bostrom. The victory ended Bostrom's 14-match winning streak. Smith also has won three-straight doubles matches while pairing with freshman Serge Ristivojevic.
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
