Men's Tennis Opens NCAA Run With Wisconson Rematch
May 8, 2008
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2008 NCAA Men's Tennis Regional
Los Angeles, Calif. • Los Angeles Tennis Center • UCLA
Saturday, May 10
#32 Washington vs. #33 Wisconsin - 9 a.m.
#3 UCLA vs. Eastern Washington - 12 p.m.
Sunday, May 11
Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 - 1 p.m.
THIS WEEK: The Husky men's tennis team returns to the NCAA Championships for the 14th year in a row this weekend, heading to Los Angeles where they will face 33rd-ranked Wisconsin in the first round on Saturday at 9 a.m. The four-team regional also features host-school and third-seeded UCLA who will play Eastern Washington also on Saturday. The two winners will then meet on Sunday, May 11, at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to the Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla. In a bit of deja vu, the Huskies (14-9, 2-5 Pac-10) and Badgers (17-9, 8-2 Big Ten) met last year in the first round as well, with Wisconsin scoring a 4-3 upset to end Washington's season.
WASHINGTON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Ever since Matt Anger took control of the Huskies in 1995, Washington has become a regular in the NCAA Championships. Anger's first year marked UW's first tournament bid, and they have returned every year since. Since 2001, Washington has reached the Round of 16 on five occasions, most recently in 2006. For six-straight years (2001-2006) the Huskies won at least one NCAA match, compiling an 11-6 record during that span. Last season's loss to Wisconsin was the first time UW fell in the first round since 2000. The Huskies have also had to be tournament road warriors. Four of their five Sweet-16 trips came after winning regionals on the road, as they have only been selected to host one time. The Huskies have prevailed in regionals hosted by Notre Dame, Stanford, San Diego State, and Virginia Commonwealth. Overall, Washington is 14-13 in NCAA tournament play. Washington's difficult regular season schedule is reflected in the fact that UW has faced 13 teams in this year's tournament, with a 4-9 record. Washington has wins over Pepperdine, the 13th-seed, Alabama, Denver, and Eastern Washington.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN: The Badgers won 12 of their final 15 matches heading into the NCAA tournament. They were knocked out of the Big Ten tournament in the semifinals by Illinois, 4-1, in their most recent match. This is Wisconsin's fourth NCAA trip and second in a row. Wisconsin lost to Notre Dame, 4-0, last year in the second round after edging the Huskies. In the match against Washington, Wisconsin got wins from Mortiz Baumann at No. 1 singles, Jeremy Sonkin at No. 2, Nolan Polley at No. 3, and Lacheza Kasarov at No. 4. Derek Drabble and Michael Ricks won for Washington at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, and the Huskies swept doubles. Kasarov is the only starter from last year's match not to return this year. Baumann is back at No. 1 singles for Wisconsin, and has gone 11-10 in dual play. He also earned an NCAA Singles Championship bid. Marek Michalicka has gone 22-2 in dual play, mostly at No. 3 singles. In the ITA Rankings, Baumann is ranked 50th, while Polley is No. 104. Baumann and Polley are also ranked 49th in doubles. Greg Van Emburgh is in his third season as Badgers head coach.
SCOUTING UCLA: Pac-10 Champion UCLA is the tournament's No. 3 seed, after a 21-1 regular season. The Bruins defeated the rival Trojans of USC, 4-3, in the final Pac-10 match to clinch their fifth-straight conference crown. UCLA's only loss came in Seattle in February when it fell, 4-3, to top-ranked Virginia in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. UCLA visited Seattle again in March, when they defeated Washington, 6-1. The Huskies point came from junior David Chu at No. 6 singles, as he defeated Nick Meister. The No. 3 seed is UCLA's highest since 2001. The Bruins have won the NCAA title 16 times, second only to Stanford's 17, and they are the only school to compete in every tournament since the team format was adopted in 1977. Their last title came in 2005, which ended a 21-year drought. Seniors Harel Srugo and Mathieu Dehaine both earned NCAA Singles tourney bids. Srugo is ranked 23rd, while Dehaine is 40th. Freshman Holden Seguso is also ranked 61st, while Srugo and Meister are ranked 52nd in doubles. Last year the Bruins advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Billy Martin is in his 15th season as head coach.
SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON: The Eagles from across the state pulled off consecutive comebacks in the Big Sky Conference tournament to earn a trip to NCAA's. Eastern Washington (18-6), overcame a 3-0 deficit to Montana State and a 3-1 deficit to Sacramento State before rallying back for victory. They are currently riding an eight-match winning streak. The Huskies swept the Eagles, 7-0, in Seattle on March 14. Pannhara Mam, Nico Riego de Rios and Kyle Schraeder all earned first team All-Big Sky, and head coach Darren Haworth was named conference Coach of the Year.
REGULAR SEASON REDUX: For a team with six newcomers, just one senior, and one of the nation's most difficult schedules, the 2008 season figured to be a challenge. Now with the dust settling, the Huskies bear the marks of what they were from the start, a very talented but inexperienced team. Thrilling home victories over highly-ranked teams such as Alabama and Pepperdine were countered by struggles on the road, where the Huskies played four of their seven Pac-10 matches. Washington hosted the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February, scoring a win over then-No. 10 Alabama, but losing close calls to No. 2 Georgia and No. 11 Illinois. From that point, the Huskies went on a seven-match win streak, including a 4-3 win over Pepperdine who is currently ranked 14th. Pac-10 play started at home against the conference's top two teams, UCLA and USC, and the Huskies struggled for the only time at home, losing 6-1 in both matches. From there UW picked up a road win at Arizona, but lost three straight conference road matches, the toughest a 4-3 defeat at Cal. Washington then bounced back with a sweep of the Ducks in their season finale to finish at 2-5 in Pac-10 play. Senior Andy Kuharszky led the team with 14 dual match wins, mostly at No. 3 singles, followed closely by the 13 of junior Patrik Fischer, who assumed the No. 1 singles spot and is currently ranked 86th. UW was 13-10 in the doubles point, and lost just one match after winning doubles, that coming at Stanford. Fischer and freshman Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, the top two singles players, comprised the top doubles tandem, going 7-6.
KUHARSZKY BOWS OUT: Senior captain Andy Kuharszky has been a four-year stalwart in the Husky singles and doubles lineups, and made his final home appearance with a win against the Ducks on April 19. The native of Budapest, Hungary has been a model of consistency during his career, posting a winning record in singles and doubles, overall and in dual play, in all four years. This year has seen him place his name in the recordbooks alongside some of the greats in Husky history. With his most recent singles win, Kuharszky reached 87 singles wins and also has 78 doubles wins for his career. The 87 wins in singles surpassed Eric Drew (1996-99) for sixth-place on the UW career wins list. Kuharszky is also third on the doubles wins list, just five short of the record of 83, set last year by departing seniors Daniel Chu and Alex Slovic. With 165 combined victories, Kuharszky ranks fourth all-time, 10 combined wins behind Alex Vlaski (2001-05). Kuharszky also is the perfect example of the well-rounded student-athlete. A two-time Pac-10 All-Academic team member, Kuharszky has been team captain for three years running, and also was elected the president of the Washington Student-Athlete Advisory Council by a vote of his peers in all 23 sports.
HUSKIES IN THE RANKINGS: Despite competing only on an individual basis at the Pac-10 Championships, the Huskies still rose three spots in the final regular season ITA Rankings, up to No. 32. The team has been ranked as high as No. 20, after beginning the season at No. 37. Based on the current rankings, the Huskies have wins over 13th-ranked Pepperdine, and 21st-ranked Alabama. All of UW's losses have come to teams currently ranked in the Top-40. In the latest individual rankings, junior Patrik Fischer dropped eight spots to No. 94, while freshman Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan slipped out of the rankings for the first time since February. He had been ranked 118th previously. Fischer debuted at a career-high No. 77 on March 18, while Nedunchezhiyan's high-water mark was No. 82 on March 4th. Neduncezhiyan is the first Husky freshman to be ranked during the spring since Alex Slovic in 2003, who went on to become UW's all-time combined wins leader.
FISCHER FINDS GROOVE: Ascertaining just who would hold down the No. 1 singles spot this season for the Huskies was one of head coach Matt Anger's toughest tasks in the fall. As the season matured, it become clear that junior Patrik Fischer was maturing in the top spot right along with it. Playing No. 1 in 20 of UW's 23 matches, Fischer is 11-8 against many of the nation's elite, with one DNF against Illinois in a match he was leading. Based on the current rankings, Fischer has wins over four ranked opponents, highlighted by his upset of 9th-ranked Andre Begemann of Pepperdine. Fischer has also defeated 95th-ranked Syketh Maneni of Alabama, 82nd-ranked Matt Brooklyn of Arizona State, and 107th-ranked Kallim Stewart of California. The Switzerland native earned his first career singles ranking this season, jumping to a No. 77 ranking on March 18 although he has since dipped slightly to No. 94. Fischer has taken care of business efficiently as well, going 18-2 against unranked players based on the current rankings. All of his dual losses have come at the hands of ranked players.
HUSKIES NET CONFERENCE HONORS: Washington has claimed two Pac-10 Men's Tennis Player of the Week awards this season. Senior Andy Kuharszky was named Player of the Week for Feb. 25-March 2. Washington's senior captain, Kuharszky was instrumental in a 4-3 team dual victory over Oregon as he and partner Derek Drabble helped the Huskies sweep the doubles point with an 8-4 victory over Alexander Cornelissen and Ric Mortera and then in singles Kuharszky rolled Cornelissen 6-1, 6-2. On March 1, in a neutral court match against No. 59 Denver in Eugene, Ore., Kuharszky rolled again in straight sets over David Simson, 6-3, 7-6 (5) as the Huskies picked up the victory against a ranked opponent. It is the first career Player of the Week award for Kuharszky, but was the second in as many weeks for the Huskies, as freshman Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan picked up his first award the week of Feb. 18-24. Nedunchezhiyan, playing out of the No. 1 position for the first time in his young career, knocked off 95th-ranked Blake Strode of No. 62 Arkansas in straight sets 6-1, 7-6 (2). Washington now has five all-time Player of the Week awards to its credit.
HEAD COACH Matt Anger: Thirteen years have passed since Matt Anger took the helm of the UW men's tennis program, and in that time he has established the program as a perennial national power. Not only has Washington markedly improved in records and national rankings since his arrival, the Huskies have advanced to the NCAA tournament every season since, including five Sweet 16 appearances in the last seven years. Anger, the 2005 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, has guided Washington to its best-ever stretch of Pac-10 finishes during the past three years: finishing tied for third in 2007 and 2006 and winning its first conference title in 2005. In the process, he has become the program's all-time winningest coach with 233 victories. Anger also mentored Washington's first three-time All-American and first national champion since 1924 in 2005 graduate Alex Vlaski. Vlaski won the 2003 ITA All-American Championship singles crown, becoming the first Husky to win a national title since Wallace Scott won the National Collegiate singles champion crown in 1924. Last season, Anger coached Alex Slovic to the NCAA Semifinals, the third different player (along with Vlaski in 2003 and Eric Drew in 1999) that has made the semis under Anger's guidance. Over the past 10 years, only Washington, Stanford, and Georgia have produced three different NCAA Singles Semifinalists. Anger played collegiate tennis at USC from 1982-84 and was a three-time All-American. Anger entered the pro ranks and played on the pro tour for eight years (1984-91). He earned his highest ATP singles ranking of No. 23 in the world in 1986. Anger reached the round of 16 at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 1986, advanced to the third round of the Australian Open in 1985 and 1987, and also Wimbledon in 1987. He was also ranked the No. 1 junior in the world by Tennis Magazine in 1981.
