'Roos Host Jackrabbits and Tigers Saturday and Sunday
3/20/2015 10:30:00 AM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
UMKC (6-8) men's tennis hosts a pair of home matches on Saturday and Sunday in their final tune-up before WAC play begins next week. They face former Summit League opponent South Dakota State on Saturday, and Cowley College on Sunday, both at 11 am.
THE OPPONENTS
South Dakota State comes into Saturday's match with a 6-5 overall record. They are led by Parker Lawley and Mateus Moreira at the top of the lineup with four and five wins, respectively. UMKC is 10-0 all-time against the Jackrabbits, surrendering only two points in the series.
Cowley County College is a junior college, and enters the weekend with an 11-6 overall record. They will face South Dakota State on Saturday before battling UMKC on Sunday. The 'Roos are 3-0 all-time against the Tigers, winning all three meetings 6-1.
WHO IS COMPETING
UMKC will have Airam Castellano, Conner Edwards, Uldis Gaismins, Amaury Navette, Vinh Pham, Mike Psarros and Andrey Smirnov this week.
SUPER SENIOR
Conner Edwards has posted a 13-5 overall record so far this season, surpassing his win total from his first three seasons combined. The amount of improvement in the offseason has been remarkable, as he currently leads the team in wins.
LAST TIME OUT
The 'Roos come in off a 7-0 loss at No. 65 Nebraska last Saturday. Prior to that they posted back-to-back home wins over Abilene Christian and Omaha.
FOUR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Conner Edwards became the third consecutive 'Roo to start the season to earn WAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week. In the first two weeks of the spring season, Airam Castellano and Mike Psarros pulled home the honors for UMKC. Just last week, Castellano won another honor, his second career win.
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 391-311 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 66-99 at UMKC, while boasting a 90-78 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
