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SHU Men's Tennis Set To Make First NCAA Tournament Appearance
May 6, 2009
Setting the Scene... The Sacred Heart men's tennis team makes its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament this weekend as the Pioneers head to the University of Texas to take on the Longhorns in the first round of the national tournament Friday afternoon. The action from the Penick-Allison Tennis Center kicks off at 2:00 pm ET. The winner of the SHU-Texas match takes on the winner of the Washington-Texas Tech match earlier in the day.
The 2009 NCAA Tournament... The NCAA tennis tournament is a 64 team field. The format is a single-elimination tournament at 16 first and second-round sites, with four teams at each site. Regional winners will advance to the nationals, held May 16-26 in Tulsa. Thirty-one conferences received automatic bids to the tournament, with the other 33 teams earning at-large berths.
NEC Champs... Sacred Heart lost just two points in three matches as the Pioneers won their first ever Northeast Conference Championship on April 19th at the Mercer Tennis Center to qualify for the NCAA's. The Pioneers swept Saint Francis (PA) in the first round and then took down Quinnipiac, 4-2 in the semis to reach the championship match for just the second time in program history. In the finals, SHU lost the doubles point before storming back to take four of the five completed singles matches to win the championship. Sophomore Chris Ujkic won a three set victory in the clinching match for Sacred Heart.
Top Coach... Paul Gagliardi's third season at Sacred Heart was the charm. The man who assembled Sacred Heart's championship lineup became the first in program history to claim the NEC Coach of the Year award. After leading the Pioneers to a 14-8 overall record, including a 6-1 mark against conference foes, Gagliardi still has a bit of work to do. A day before receiving the NEC honor, he learned that his team will make its NCAA Tournament debut against Texas.
Number One Leads the Way... The Pioneers were led during the regular season by sophomore Kirill Kasyanov who won a league high 23 matches and posted a 16-6 record at number one singles. Kasyanov started the spring season 11-2 in singles play, including winning his first eight individual matches of the spring. He was the NEC Player of the Week on April 7.
In the Three Hole... A key addition to the Pioneer lineup this year has been junior transfer Adam Gart. A first team All-NEC selection this season, Gart is in his first year at SHU after transferring from the University of Rhode Island. Playing in the third singles slot for the entire season, Gart was second on the Sacred Heart squad with 21 wins on the season. In his first season in the red and white he went 21-11 in singles action, including 13-7 in dual meet action.
All Conference Standouts... In addition to Gart, three other players earned All-NEC honors. Sophomore Michael Syer and junior Jinal Shah earned first team honors in singles. Syer and Shah anchored the bottom part of the SHU singles lineup, with Shah taking honors at the number five position and Syer at six. Shah was 8-7 on the year while Syer turned in a 13-10 mark.
Double the Fun... Jinal Shah and Nick Mazzarese earned second team All-NEC Honors in doubles this year. The duo had the best winning percentage of any Sacred Heart doubles team, going 8-2 on the year. The duo who teamed up late in the season and won nine of their last 10 matches, including three straight matches at the NEC tournament.
Scouting the Longhorns... The No. 12 seed Texas Longhorns enter the postseason at 19-6, following a runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championships. The top three singles players for the Longhorns are all outstanding. Junior Dimitar Kutrovsky is ranked 19th in the country and is 24-11 overall, having recently earned a spot in the NCAA tennis singles tournament. Ed Corries is 16-7 on the year in the number two slot with Kellen Damico17-8 on the year playing in the number three slot. Corrie and Damico are 10-8 as the top doubles team. Kutrovsky and John Zavala have a 17-5 record in the two doubles slot.
