UMKC Treks to Hawaii for Pair of Island Matches
3/5/2015 6:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
UMKC (4-5) men's tennis makes the trip to Hawaii this weekend, facing a tough pair of matches against Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific on Friday and Saturday.
THE OPPONENTS
Hawaii enters the weekend with a 3-3 overall record, with wins over Seattle and Pacific. They come in off losses to Washington and San Diego. They are led by Feliz Albert and Carter Lam with three wins each in dual play.
Hawaii Pacific is the No. 2 ranked Division II school in the nation, and comes into the weekend with a 3-0 record. They are paced by Maik Burlage at No. 1, among several nationally ranked singles players.
This will be the first meeting between UMKC and either school.
WHO IS COMPETING
UMKC will be sending Airam Castellano, Conner Edwards, Uldis Gaismins, Amaury Navette, Vinh Pham, Mike Psarros and Andrey Smirnov this weekend.
SUPER SENIOR
Conner Edwards has posted an 11-3 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 knocked off Oral Roberts on the road February 20, winning the doubles point, and taking the singles matches at the 3-6 positions.
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.
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 387-306 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 64-97 at UMKC, while boasting an 88-75 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
