M TENNIS CENTRAL: ETSU/Murray State

Jan. 19, 2014

VOLS vs. ETSU/MURRAY STATE

Monday, Jan. 20 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. ET

Goodfriend Tennis Center | Knoxville

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NOTE THIS

EXPERIMENTAL RULES: College tennis teams across the country will be playing with an experimental scoring system in January and February. As always, teams will be vying for four team points, but the match scoring will be a little different. The three doubles matches to start the contest will be played as six-game sets, instead of eight-game sets. Matches will feature no-ad scoring and a tiebreaker if it is tied at 5-5. The team that wins two of the three doubles matches wins one team point. Six singles matches will then be played, each worth one team point. Matches will be best-of-three sets with no-ad scoring. Rules will return to NCAA format after the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February.

PARKING: Where should you leave your car when driving to Goodfriend Tennis Center? Lot S-37 around the Shelbourne Towers (across the street from the tennis center) will be available. Fans can also park in lot N-2 (the old tennis courts along Volunteer Boulevard). Goodfriend Tennis Center can be accessed through the main doors located in the parking lot of the Andy Holt Apartments, or the elevator entrance near the outdoor courts of Barksdale Stadium.

THE SEASON BEGINS

A Look at the Team

 The Vols are starting 2014 just like they ended last season: ranked sixth nationally
 The top four singles starters are returning for Tennessee: Mikelis Libietis, Hunter Reese, Jarryd Chaplin and Brandon Fickey.
 Sam Winterbotham is in his eighth year as head coach at Tennessee. In that time He and associate head coach Chris Woodruff have compiled a 161-49 record.
 The Vols have two ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams based on fall results. In singles, Hunter Reese is ranked 16th and Mikelis Libietis is 34th. In doubles, Libietis and Reese retained their hold on the No. 1 ranking. Jarryd Chaplin and Brandon Fickey are ranked for the first time at No. 28.

And on Monday

 Tennessee is back in action for the Monday holiday, hosting East Tennessee State at 10 a.m. and Murray State at 2 p.m. at Goodfriend Tennis Center
 Murray State is coached by former Vol and 1980 NCAA doubles champ Mel Purcell
 This will be the first meeting between the Vols and ETSU since 2011.
 All holiday weekend, many players might look familiar to fans to came to UT for the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships back in October. All four opponents are in the Ohio Valley Region and sent players to the tournament

Win 50

 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese picked up two wins Saturday, giving them 50 wins together in their career
 They are 13-2 this year
 Fifty wins ranks as sixth on the Vols' career wins list, two away from Kaden Hensel and Bobby Cameron.
 Byron Talbot and Shelby Cannon still far-and-away hold the career record with 102 victories from 1985-88

Last Year ... What Happened?

 The Vols finished the season 26-9 overall and ended the year ranked sixth nationally
 The team reached the NCAA quarterfinals, the third time in four years the Vols have reached at least the quarterfinals
 They finished second in the SEC during the regular season and played their way into the conference title match
 In Winterbotham's seven years at UT, the Vols have been end-year top-10 five times

QUICK! Fall Highlights

 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese made good on their No. 1 doubles ranking, battling illness to win the ITA All-American Championships. They also reached the final of the USTA/ITA National Indoors.
 Reese became Tennessee's first USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Region champion. He had 12 wins during the fall, two against top-10 players.
 Jarryd Chaplin and Brandon Fickey won their first doubles title together, doing so on a big stage. They won the USTA Clay Court Invitational in Orlando
 Three freshman -- Markus Kerner, Sean Karl and Sunay Bhat -- played their first career matches.

ICYMI: Awards from May 2013

 In a rare same-team decision by a national panel of coaches, both Winterbotham and Woodruff were both awarded college tennis' highest coaching honors. Winterbotham was named the ITA National Coach of the Year, and Woodruff was the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
 Mikelis Libietis was named the ITA National Player to Watch, in addition to his SEC Player of the Year nod
 The All-Americans: Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese

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