University of Tennessee Athletics
International Trio Rounds Out Tennis Vols' 2004 Signing Class
January 12, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 12, 2004
Tennessee's men's tennis team has signed a trio of international standouts for the 2004 spring season. New Zealander Kiril Tcherveniachki and South Africans Ockie Oosthuizen and Matt Berry all arrived on campus last week and have officially joined the squad.
"We are excited to welcome Matt, Ockie, and Kiril to the University of Tennessee," head coach Michael Fancutt said. "They are three quality individuals who excelled within the junior ranks in their respective countries. I believe they are all capable of continuing the winning tradition we have established here at Tennessee over the years."
Tcherveniachki, like current Vol senior Simon Rea, hails from Auckland, New Zealand, and attended Auckland Grammar School. The two netters played on the same high school team in 2000. Tcherveniachki has been ranked as high as No. 46 among the world's junior players in Boys' 18s by the International Tennis Federation, and he has attained a Boys' 18s New Zealand singles ranking of No. 2. He began the year in impressive fashion, claiming two Boys' 18s singles titles in February at the Auckland Summer Championships and the Canterbury Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. Born in Bulgaria, Tcherveniachki also held a Boys' 18s ITF doubles ranking of No. 82 late last year.
Berry and Oosthuizen were each ranked in the top three in South Africa's Boys' 18s rankings in 2003.
Berry, from Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, attended Westerford High School in 1999 before transferring to Reddam High School, which he attended from 2000-03. Berry's older sister, Marianne, is a junior tennis player at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga.
Oosthuizen attended DF Malan High School in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. He has competed with the South African junior team and has won an African Cup Boys' 16s doubles title.
In total, the Vols have four newcomers this semester. Ben Rogers, a native of Kingsport, Tenn., signed with the Vols last October and graduated from Dobyns-Bennett High School a semester early so that he could begin his collegiate career at UT this spring.
The addition of Tcherveniachki, Berry, Oosthuizen and Rogers gives the Vols a 10-man spring roster, which includes two seniors, two juniors, a sophomore and five freshmen. A multi-national squad, the group is composed of five Americans (all from Tennessee), two South Africans, two New Zealanders and one Australian.
The Vols' spring season begins Jan. 15 at the SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships in Athens, Ga.
