Wolverines to Participate in 2011 ITA Kick-Off Weekend
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 3, 2010
SKILLMAN, N.J. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team has been selected to participate in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Jan. 28-29, 2011, at Duke University, the announcement coming from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Thursday (June 3).
"This is going to be a great test for us early in the season," said U-M head coach Bruce Berque. "Every team there is a great team with great programs and great coaches. We expect two highly competitive matches. Hopefully, it will give our guys the motivation and understanding that they need to be ready at the start of the season. We're looking forward to the challenge."
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend takes 60 teams from across the country and slots them into one of the 15 regional pods. Each regional will act as a four-team tournament, with the winner heading to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Feb. 18-21, 2011, at the University of Washington. The Wolverines last headed to the National Team Indoor Championships in 2009, defeating California and Virginia Commonwealth to qualify.
Michigan will be the No. 4 seed and will face top-seeded Duke on Friday, Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. Joining Michigan and Duke in Durham, N.C., will be No. 2 seed Pepperdine and No. 3 seed Virginia Tech. Two matches are guaranteed, as the winners and losers of both matches will play the following day on Saturday, Jan. 29. Duke was ranked No. 14 in the final ITA poll released May 28, as were Pepperdine (No. 21) and Virginia Tech (No. 24). Michigan finished the season listed No. 26.
Duke ended the 2010 season with a 20-9 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16, where it lost to top-seeded Virginia, 4-0. Like Michigan, both Pepperdine and Virginia Tech won its first-round match in the NCAA Championships but could not get past the second round. Michigan faced Pepperdine at the Varsity Tennis Center on Feb. 7, losing 6-1.
The Wolverines were in the University of Kentucky regional at the 2010 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, falling to Kentucky, 4-2, in the first round, before beating Minnesota in a non-conference clash in the consolation, 4-2.
Michigan finished the 2009-10 campaign with a record of 14-11 and a third-place finish in the Big Ten Conference. The Wolverines qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fifth straight season under Berque and continued its run of top-half finishes in the Big Ten, having placed no lower than fourth place in each of Berque's six seasons at the helm.
Five letterwinners return for the 2011 season, including All-Big Ten selection Jason Jung (Torrance, Calif./West Torrance), Big Ten and ITA Midwest Regional Freshman of the Year Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan) and the team's active leader in match wins, Chris Madden (Lotus, Calif./Ponderosa). The Wolverines also bring in the nation's third-best recruiting class -- as ranked by Tennisrecruiting.net -- featuring blue-chip recruits Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) and Justin Rossi (Novi, Mich./Laurel Springs Prep).
2011 ITA Kick-Off Weekend Event Schedule
Friday, Jan. 28 -- No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 MICHIGAN, 10 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 28 -- No. 2 Pepperdine vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 29 -- Consolation Match, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 29 -- Championship Match, 6 p.m.
Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
