University of Washington
Alabama
Huskies Travel South For ITA Kick-Off Weekend
January 25, 2017 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE – Beginning their season with four straight matches at home, the Washington men's tennis team is set to take a 4-0 record on the road to Athens, Ga. for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, beginning with Alabama on Friday January 27th at 6 a.m. PT.
The Huskies opened up their season with a doubleheader against Seattle, winning each match 7-0, before defeating Utah State 6-1 and Gonzaga 7-0 this past weekend. The 60th ranked player in the nation, Mitch Stewart leads the way for UW with three dual match singles victories thus far, all on court one. Fellow junior Jake Douglas has picked up a win in each of Washington's four matches, moving up to 8th this past weekend for best career singles winning-percentage in program history.
Friday's early morning match against the Tide will only be the second ever meeting between these two teams, with the Huskies owning the lone win. Alabama currently owns two singles rankings by the ITA, No. 63 Mazen Osama and No. 78 Thibault Cancel, and one doubles rankings, owned by Osama and Spencer Richey who sit at 32nd in the country. Led by fifth year head coach George Husack, Alabama has begun the season 2-1, opening up with wins over East Tennessee State and Samford, before falling to No. 21 Michigan last weekend.
Depending on how the Dawgs fare in their match on Friday, they will face either Purdue or Georgia on Saturday or Sunday. If the Huskies fall to Alabama, they will play the loser of Purdue versus Georgia in a consolation match on Saturday at 2 p.m., with a win however, UW advances to the championship match on Sunday at 10 a.m. versus the winner of the Boilermakers and Bulldogs. The winner of the four team single-elimination tournament this weekend will advance to the National Team Indoor Championships in February.
The Boilermakers have begun their 2017 season 3-0, defeating Ball State 5-2, and Chicago State in a doubleheader. They are led by head coach Pawel Gajdzik, who is in his eighth season with the program. Junior Gergely Madarasz owns two rankings by the ITA, sitting at 49th in singles, and fourth in doubles paired with Ricky Medinilla. Washington owns a 2-0 all-time record against Purdue.
The host and top seeded team of the weekend, Georgia currently sit at No. 5 in the country in the latest ITA team rankings. The Bulldogs opened their season last weekend with a 5-2 win over Georgia Tech, and currently own a total of 10 singles and doubles rankings by the ITA. Junior Wayne Montgomery owns the top spot on the team, sitting at 22nd in singles and 24th in doubles when paired with Robert Loeb. Montgomery also ranks 41st in doubles paired with sophomore Emil Reinberg, who also owns a singles ranking of 31st. They are coached by Manuel Diaz, who is in his 29th season with the program, and led the team to their fourth-straight SEC Championship and 23rd NCAA semifinals appearance last year.
Matches this weekend will have both live stats and a live stream available, which can be found by following the links above. To keep up with the team this weekend, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or check out GoHuskies.com for the latest results, news and content.
Players Mentioned
