University of Tennessee Athletics

Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics
Men's Tennis Central: ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 21, 2021 | Men's Tennis
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 13 Tennessee men's tennis team will look to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the first time since 2014 when it travels east to Raleigh, North Carolina for the NC State regional of ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The Vols will take on SEC foe Ole Miss—who come in at No. 17 in the ITA Preseason Team Rankings—on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.
The winner of Friday's afternoon match will take on the winner of the morning match between hosts NC State and Alabama. The region's title bout will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, while a consolation match will take place that morning at 10 a.m.
Live stats for each match can be found here and live streaming of the entire weekend is located here.
KICKOFF WEEKEND HISTORY
Tennessee is 15-7 all-time at ITA Kick-Off Weekend since the event's inception in 2009, advancing to the national indoors field six consecutive times from 2009-2014.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
Tennessee holds a slim 29-28 lead against Ole Miss in a series dating to 1940, with the Vols claiming wins in each of the last four contests.
The last time the programs met, Tennessee earned a tight 4-3 victory. After dropping the doubles point, the Big Orange grabbed straight-set victories from Adam Walton, Martim Prata, Giles Hussey and Luca Wiedenmann, with Wiedenmann clinching the match on court three.
A victory on Friday would give UT its longest win streak in the series since 2012.
SCOUTING NC STATE
The Vols and Wolfpack have met just six times in the history of the series, with three of those meetings coming in the last three dual seasons.
In 2019, the teams met in both the regular season and the NCAA Tournament. In the first contest, the Vols rolled past NC State, by sweeping the doubles point and winning three singles matches in quick succession to walk away with a 4-1 victory.
In the rematch at the NCAA Tournament, the Orange & White earned a 4-2 win in a match that saw five of six singles matches reach a third set before Walton clinched match point and a spot at super regionals for UT.
A potential Kick-Off showdown would be the first of two meetings this season, as the squads are set to face off on Feb. 7 in Knoxville.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Crimson Tide, 45-15, dating to 1930. UT is currently riding a four-match win streak against Bama and has won 27 of the last 32 meetings and hasn't lost back-to-back matchups with Alabama since the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
A meeting on Saturday would be the first of two matchups this season as the teams are set to square off on March 14 in SEC play.
ITA RANKINGS
Tennessee:
Singles
#24 Adam Walton
#124 Pat Harper
Ole Miss:
Singles
#62 Tim Sandkaulen
Doubles
#7 Tim Sandkaulen/FinnReynolds
NC State
Singles
#7 Alexis Galarneau
#95 Tadas Babelis
Doubles
#9 Yannai Barkai/Tadas Babelis
#23 Alexis Galarneau/Rovert Turzak
Alabama
Singles
#89 Edson Ortiz
UP NEXT
After completing the weekend in Raleigh, the Vols will return home to take on Notre Dame next Friday afternoon in Knoxville. First serve from the Goodfriend Tennis Center is slated for 1 p.m. ET.
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The Vols will take on SEC foe Ole Miss—who come in at No. 17 in the ITA Preseason Team Rankings—on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.
The winner of Friday's afternoon match will take on the winner of the morning match between hosts NC State and Alabama. The region's title bout will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, while a consolation match will take place that morning at 10 a.m.
Live stats for each match can be found here and live streaming of the entire weekend is located here.
KICKOFF WEEKEND HISTORY
Tennessee is 15-7 all-time at ITA Kick-Off Weekend since the event's inception in 2009, advancing to the national indoors field six consecutive times from 2009-2014.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
Tennessee holds a slim 29-28 lead against Ole Miss in a series dating to 1940, with the Vols claiming wins in each of the last four contests.
The last time the programs met, Tennessee earned a tight 4-3 victory. After dropping the doubles point, the Big Orange grabbed straight-set victories from Adam Walton, Martim Prata, Giles Hussey and Luca Wiedenmann, with Wiedenmann clinching the match on court three.
A victory on Friday would give UT its longest win streak in the series since 2012.
SCOUTING NC STATE
The Vols and Wolfpack have met just six times in the history of the series, with three of those meetings coming in the last three dual seasons.
In 2019, the teams met in both the regular season and the NCAA Tournament. In the first contest, the Vols rolled past NC State, by sweeping the doubles point and winning three singles matches in quick succession to walk away with a 4-1 victory.
In the rematch at the NCAA Tournament, the Orange & White earned a 4-2 win in a match that saw five of six singles matches reach a third set before Walton clinched match point and a spot at super regionals for UT.
A potential Kick-Off showdown would be the first of two meetings this season, as the squads are set to face off on Feb. 7 in Knoxville.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Crimson Tide, 45-15, dating to 1930. UT is currently riding a four-match win streak against Bama and has won 27 of the last 32 meetings and hasn't lost back-to-back matchups with Alabama since the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
A meeting on Saturday would be the first of two matchups this season as the teams are set to square off on March 14 in SEC play.
ITA RANKINGS
Tennessee:
Singles
#24 Adam Walton
#124 Pat Harper
Ole Miss:
Singles
#62 Tim Sandkaulen
Doubles
#7 Tim Sandkaulen/FinnReynolds
NC State
Singles
#7 Alexis Galarneau
#95 Tadas Babelis
Doubles
#9 Yannai Barkai/Tadas Babelis
#23 Alexis Galarneau/Rovert Turzak
Alabama
Singles
#89 Edson Ortiz
UP NEXT
After completing the weekend in Raleigh, the Vols will return home to take on Notre Dame next Friday afternoon in Knoxville. First serve from the Goodfriend Tennis Center is slated for 1 p.m. ET.
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Players Mentioned
Everything Orange S2 | Shunsuke Mitsui (Men's Tennis)
Thursday, May 08
MTN | Johannus Monday Tennessee Tribute
Friday, June 21
MTN | Chris Woodruff Media Availability (5.14.24)
Tuesday, May 14
Everything Orange | Johannus Monday (Men's Tennis)
Thursday, May 02