'Roos Close Out WAC Play in Chicago This Weekend
4/10/2015 1:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
UMKC (10-10, 0-2 WAC) men's tennis will close out WAC play over the weekend in Chicago, facing Grand Canyon and Chicago State on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
THE OPPONENTS
Grand Canyon is 9-9 entering the weekend, and 1-2 in WAC play, falling to the same two teams that UMKC did (NMSU and UTPA), by the same scores (4-3). Strahinja Trecakov plays No. 1 for the 'Lopes. UMKC is 0-1 against GCU, falling 4-1 last year.
Chicago State is 4-13 overall and 0-1 in WAC play entering the weekend. The 'Roos knocked CSU out of the WAC Tournament a year ago, and post an 8-2 record against the Cougars all-time, not losing since 2002.
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, ALL-TIME LEADER
Conner Edwards has posted a 17-7 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 co-leads the team in singles wins and leads the team in doubles victories.
RECORD WATCH
Airam Castellano and Conner Edwards both have 17 wins this season, and need two to match Grant Fleming's single season record of 19. In doubles, Edwards has 17 wins, just one shy of the single season mark, while Andrey Smirnov and Uldis Gaismins each have 16 wins. For a career, Edwards has 46 doubles wins, ranking No. 1 all-time.
FIVE 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. Castellano has since won two more POW honors, his third career win as a freshman.
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 396-317 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 69-103 at UMKC, while boasting a 92-80 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
