Men's Tennis Heads to Drake for Three Matches Friday and Saturday
2/6/2015 12:53:00 AM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
Kansas City (3-1) men's tennis heads to Des Moines, Iowa for a trio of matches at Drake. They will face the host team, Drake on Friday, followed by Gonzaga and South Alabama on Saturday.
THE OPPONENTS
Drake enters the weekend with a 5-1 overall record, and are ranked No. 38 in the nation. They are led by Alen Salibasic and Ben Lott at the top two positions in the lineup. UMKC is 0-11 all-time against the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga is 1-1 entering the weekend, picking up a win against Idaho. They are paced by Alvaro Nazal, who is 16-3 on the year and plays No. 1. UMKC is 1-1 all-time against Gonzaga, falling 4-0 last year.
South Alabama is 3-2 coming into Friday, posting wins over Central Florida and Nicholls State. They are led by Daniel Leitner at No. 1, who has a 12-3 record. UMKC will be facing USA for the first time ever.
WHO IS COMPETING
UMKC will be sending Airam Castellano, Conner Edwards, Uldis Gaismins, Amaury Navette, Vinh Pham, Mike Psarros and Andrey Smirnov this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
The 'Roos dropped a 7-0 decision to BYU with a tight doubles round, before knocking off Weber State on Saturday by a 4-3 margin.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mike Psarros became the second straight 'Roo to get Player of the Week as he split a pair of matches in Utah this weekend, making a comeback against Jack Yin to defeat Weber State. He won the clinching match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 against Yin on Saturday helping the Roos to a 4-3 victory over Weber State. Psarros and doubles partner Airam Castellano defeated Weber State's pair of Cooper and Guswami 6-3. Last week, UMKC freshman Airam Castellano won the award.
THE WAC
The WAC will have a regular season champion crowned this year, as well as a conference tournament champion. The teams will be seeded in the league tournament based on the conference standings. The WAC Tournament will be played April 24-26 in Kansas City, hosted by the 'Roos.
'ROOS IN THE NCAAS
2013 was UMKC's sixth appearance overall 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 eighth season as the head coach of the UMKC men's and women's tennis program. Overall, the 2014-15 season is Hale's 21st as a collegiate head coach, where he has compiled a 384-299 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 62-94 at UMKC, while boasting an 87-71 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 conference regular season titles, four conference tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also selected as the 2010 USPTA 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 seven seasons at the helm, Hale has coached 25 all-league honorees on the men's side and 14 all-league selections on the women's side. He's also coached three Conference Players of the Year and three 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.
Players Mentioned
