Kansas City Heads to Great Northwest for Four Duals
2/20/2014 3:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
Kansas City (1-6) continues the road swing with four matches in the northwest, facing Eastern Washington, Idaho, Gonzaga and Lewis-Clark State this weekend.
THE OPPONENTS
Eastern Washington is 4-3 overall coming into the weekend, and has played against all three of UMKC's opponents this weekend, going 1-2 with the win over LCSU. Kansas City is 1-1 all-time against the Eagles, playing in 2000 and 2001. EWU has winning records at their No. 1, 4 and 5 positions.
Idaho enters the weekend with a 3-6 overall record, including wins over Seattle and Eastern Washington. The Vandals are 2-0 against the 'Roos, taking shutout wins in 2003 and early in 2012.
Gonzaga comes in with a 6-1 overall record, including wins against 'Roo opponents Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington in close contests. The 'Roos are 1-0 against the Bulldogs with a 7-0 win in 2009. They are led by Nick Kamisar and Vladimir Mijatovic, both with 6-1 dual records at the No. 1-3 positions.
Lewis-Clark State is 2-3 overall and ranked No. 20 in the NAIA national poll. They have lost to both Eastern Washington and Seattle. This will be the first meeting between the 'Roos and Warriors.
WHO IS COMPETING
Kansas City will have Tomas Patino, Mike Psarros, Andrey Smirnov, Daniil Ivanov, Vinh Pham, Conner Edwards, Uldis Gaismins and Daniel De Zamacona all playing.
THE WAC
WAC play will have no regular season champion crowned, only a conference tournament champion. The teams will be seeded in the league tournament based on ITA rankings. The WAC Tournament will be played April 25-27 in Las Cruces, N.M., hosted by New Mexico State.
'ROOS IN THE NCAAS
Last season was UMKC's sixth appearance overall and the third straight in the NCAA Tournament, falling to USC (1999), UCLA (2000), Baylor (2009), Texas (2011), Oklahoma (2012) and UCLA (2013).
HEAD COACH KENDELL HALE
Kendell Hale is in his seventh season as the head coach of the UMKC men's and women's tennis program. Overall, the 2013-14 season will be Hale's 20th as a collegiate head coach, where he compiled a 364-267 overall combined men's and women's record coming in. On the women's side, he has a current record of 56-82 at UMKC, while boasting a 77-61 mark with the men.
Hale has orchestrated an amazing turnaround with the men's and women's tennis programs since joining the department in 2008. He has guided both the men's and women's squads to numerous school-record win totals and has produced four Summit League regular season titles, four Summit League Tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also selected at the 2010 USTPA National Coach of the Year for his turnaround effort, as well as 2009 USPTA Missouri Valley College Coach of the Year, the 2011 Summit League Men's Coach of the Year, and 2013 Summit League Women's Coach of the Year.
In six seasons at the helm, Hale has coached 23 all-league honorees on the men's side and 12 all-league selections on the women's side. He's also coached three Summit League Players of the Year and three Summit League Newcomers of the Year.
He has also coached the five winningest players in school history on the women's side, and four of the five top career win leaders on the men's side.
