University of Tennessee Athletics
Hensel and Smith start NCAA Individual Championships
May 20, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Tennessee men???s tennis players Kaden Hensel and J.P. Smith learned their first round opponents in the 2008 NCAA singles and doubles tournament Tuesday, as the brackets were revealed for the championships to be played in Tulsa, Okla.
Hensel, ranked 35th in the current ITA singles poll, faces Thomas Liversage of San Diego in the first round Wednesday at 2 p.m. Liversage is ranked 51st in the most recent singles poll.
Hensel clinched four of UT???s victories this season including its win over third-ranked Georgia to snap the Bulldogs 40-match SEC win streak. It was quite an accomplishment for Hensel to even make the NCAA Championships as the 2007 All-America did not participate in fall play and started the spring unranked. The Mudgeeraba, Australia native has a 13-10 singles record with 14 of those matches coming against ranked opponents.
Smith opens play in the NCAA singles tournament against 41st-ranked Kellen Damico of Texas, Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Big Orange netter was named SEC Freshman of the Year and Southeast region Rookie of the Year after putting together an 18-5 singles record including a 7-3 mark in SEC play during the dual-match season. The freshman from Australia is currently ranked 24th in singles and has been ranked as high as 16th. Smith has an overall singles record of 28-10 with 12 of those victories coming over ranked opponents.
Hensel and Smith combine to form one of the nation???s top doubles teams. The duo is currently ranked fourth in the nation, their highest ranking of the season. UT???s top tandem has a 23-5 record with seven wins over ranked opponents. They went 21-4 this season at the No. 1 spot in the doubles lineup.
The Vol pair garnered a 5-8 seed in the NCAA doubles tournament and open play Thursday against Ohio State???s 14th-ranked duo of Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge.
All matches in the NCAA singles and doubles championships are the best of three sets.?? Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six games all will be used for all matches.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 21-26 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., following the conclusion of the team championships. Live scoring for all matches in the tournament can be found at tulsahurricane.com.
