Wolverine Trio Earn Preseason ITA National Rankings
9/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SKILLMAN, N.J. -- The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Friday (Sept. 8) its preseason national singles and doubles rankings, and University of Michigan seniors Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) have all secured a spot in the first men's national poll of the 2006-07 season.
Hung and Maravic are listed at No. 5 in the doubles rankings after finishing last year with a 26-10 overall record and a earning a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship. Only Illinois' top-ranked duo of Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe is ranked higher among Big Ten competitors.
The Wolverines have two representatives in the singles rankings, with Maravic listed at No. 25 and Heller holding down the No. 113 spot. Maravic is the third highest ranked individual from the Big Ten, trailing Illinois's Anderson (No. 17) and Ohio State's Bryan Koniecko (No. 19).
In addition to the release of the preseason national rankings, the ITA office revealed its selections for the 2006 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships on Thursday (Sept. 7). Maravic earned his second straight automatic invitation into the 64-player main singles draw and will team with Hung in the 32-team main doubles bracket. Hung and Maravic will be Michigan's first representatives in the main doubles draw since 1999, when Danny McCain (1999-2001) and Matt Wright (1997-2000) reached the second round at the ITA Clay Court Championships (the tournament's former title).
Hung and Heller earned spots in the 128-player qualifying singles draw, marking the second career appearance for both student-athletes. Hung was unable to move past the first round in 2004, while Heller earned three qualifying victories to move into the main draw in 2005.
The Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships, which will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 8 at the University of Tulsa's Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., are the first of three national championships during the 2006-07 men's collegiate tennis season, with the other two being the ITA National Indoor Championships (Nov. 2-5) and the NCAA Championships (May 11-28).
U-M's fall campaign kicks off Sept. 29-Oct. 1, when Michigan welcomes Boise State, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan to the Varsity Tennis Center for the Wolverine Invitational.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
