Tournament Draws

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men’s tennis team has saved the best for last as its final event of its fall season is definitely its biggest as it is set to compete in the2011 ITA Southeast Regionals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. this weekend.

This is the second time in the program’s history that the Black and Gold will be competing at the ITA Southeast Regionals as it competed at this prestigious event three years ago when it was held in Lexington, Ky. at the University of Kentucky.

The Owls have some favorable draws heading into the weekend. Freshmen Alex Toliver and Louis Theodor both qualified for the main singles draw. The both avoided playing seeded players as Toliver will play Georgia’s Ignacio Taboada in the first round, while Theodor is matched up against Florida Gulf Coast’s Matt Rock.

KSU also has four players in senior Simon Janik, junior Gianni Kubin, sophomore Ryan Spencer and freshman Alexander Pena who will all compete in the qualifying bracket to try to play their way into the main singles draw.  

In doubles, the team of Theodor and Kubin got a bye into the second round where they will take on Georgia’s Eric Diaz and Will Oliver. Janik and Toliver face a first round matchup against Miami’s Omar Aly and Pedro Ast, while Pena and Spencer will try to upset the team of Lucas Marin-Salcedo and Sebastian Hagn from South Florida.

"We're looking forward to getting the chance to compete for a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships,” head coach #T.J. Greggs# said. “We're going to be underdogs this weekend, but we have a lot of fight in us and I expect to see KSU surprise some people at this event.  If we play the way we are capable of playing, we can give anyone a run for their money. We've worked hard this fall and had some great results, but this is a whole different level.  We're ready to compete.”

The tournament will be comprised of 15 teams, including seven teams that were ranked in the top-75 in the final 2010-11 ITA National Team Rankings. Georgia (No. 5), Florida (No. 9), Georgia Tech (No. 13), Miami (No. 27), South Florida (No. 46), Florida State (No. 47) and North Florida (No. 75) represent the seven ranked teams.